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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSEOPW OMNI CRA 2004-06-05 MinutesMINUTES OF THE OVERTOWN TOWN HALL MEETING On the 5'h day of June 2004, at the Miami Arena, 701 Arena Boulevard (81h Street & N.W. I" Avenue, Miami, Florida, the Overtown Town Hall meeting was called to order at 9:31 a.m., with the following individuals found to be present: Chairman Arthur E. Teele, Jr. Priscilla A. Thompson, City Clerk, City of Miami James Villacorta, Assistant City Attorney Erica Wright, Assistant City Attorney Antranette Pierre, CRA, Executive Assistant to the Director Chelsa R. Scott, CRA, Planning Administrator William Bloom, Esq., Counsel for the City, Holland & Knight Jorge Cano, Deputy Director, Capital Improvement Program .s Note: As a result of misinformation, the Town Hall meeting began on Page 75, Line 18 1 1 VOLUME I 2 PAGES 1-200 LL' 3 CHAIRMAN ARTHUR TEELE: Good evening. Good 4 evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much. My 5 name is Arthur Teele. I am the District 5 Commissioner, 6 which includes among other places Overtown, and I would 7 respectfully ask those persons that -- because of the 8 acoustics, I would respectfully ask those persons that are 9 engaged in full conversations to continue to do so but 10 please take them out in the hall. Please continue to 11 talk, but just take it out in the hall. The acoustics in 12 here are not very good, and an administrative matter -- 13 this meeting is a public meeting pursuant to the call that 14 I've made to the Chairman of the Oversight -- of the 15 Overtown Advisory Board for the Overtown Advisory Board to 16 convene a special meeting to advise me and to participate 17 publicly with me in an input process. This meeting will 18 be conducted by the Chairman of the Overtown Advisory 19 Board. It is my understanding that the Overtown Advisory 20 Board has a regularly scheduled meeting tonight at 6:00 21 p.m. at the normal place, Culmer, and that any action or 22 actions may be taken at that time, and for those of you 23 that are not familiar the Overtown Advisory Board is 24 established by chart -- by the City statutes ordinances to 25 provide advice to the City of Miami and this is one of the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 I 1 unique boards in the City in recognition of the unique and 2 historic nature of Overtown and as City Commissioner we 3 are obliged to take note of the advice provided to us by 4 the Oversight Advisory Board. Therefore, this meeting is 5 designed to fulfill in part the requirements of the 6 ordinance that gives the Oversight Advisory Board the 7 right to make advice. Mr. Chairman, I would also quickly 8 add that there are two things that will be happening; as 9 you are well aware, on the first Saturday in June the 10 Overtown entire community will be invited to participate 11 in our annual Overtown Town Hall meeting. We have these 12 town hall meetings periodically each year and we discuss 13 as an Overtown family all of the activities that are being 14 planned, and I would simply state for the record that 15 every project that the CRA has undertaken has been 16 approved by the Overtown Town Counsel, which is sort of 17 like a mini city -- like a mini -- not City Hall, but a 18 mini pure democracy, and the residents of Overtown are 19 afforded a vote. The public is invited, but the public 20 does not get to vote. The Overtown residents get to vote 21 on that, and so that meeting will be held tentatively for 22 the first Saturday in June. I think we're working with 23 the Overtown chairman -- Advisory Board Chairman to have 24 that at the Culmer Center, and the normal time that we 25 would convene that meeting would be 10:00 a.m. and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 3 1 normally the CRA and City staff and others would be 2 invited to make presentations on any projects that are 3 going to be moved forward for an Overtown referendum; if 4 you will, just an Overtown vote. The Overtown Advisory 5 Board of course will be a full participant as they always 6 have been and will be invited to make any presentations at 7 that meeting as well. Secondly, Mr. Chairman, this 8 meeting and subsequent discussions by no means are 9 intended to curtail or minimize the Overtown Advisory 10 Board or any person from Overtown to come and speak freely 11 before the City Commission or the CRA as an individual on 12 any matter. We are not here trying to cut off anybody's 13 rights, but we do have a process and that process is the 14 Overtown Advisory Board gives advice by resolution to the 15 City Commission and we do take that advice -- I take that 16 advice under careful consideration. Therefore, pursuant 17 to the notice given, this meeting is a meeting of the 18 Overtown -- a special meeting of the Overtown Advisory 19 Board with the District 5 Commissioner to provide some 20 discussion and advice in accordance with the manner that 21 the Chairman chooses to prescribe -- the Chairman of the 22 Overtown Advisory Board -- relating to development 23 activities in Overtown. I want to just take this time to 24 thank the Overtown Advisory Board for working in the 25 shadows for many, many years. Many of the Overtown Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 Advisory Board I guess members have been here -- how long have you been on the member board, Mr. Chairman? CHAIRMAN IRBY MCKNIGHT: On and off from '85 on, for eight years from '85. CHAIRMAN TEELE: So almost 20 years this board has been functioning, and I'm sure -- CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Oh, the board has been functioning since 179. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Since '79 -- I'm being corrected. The Overtown Board was created in 1979 and has functioned since then. So again, I think the public should acknowledge and join me in saluting the Overtown Advisory Board for keeping the home fires lit and burning. Thank you. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we would normally start our meeting with a silent prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance and I don't want to deviate from that because we need all the divine intervention we can get, so with that let us stand for a few moment of silent prayer and then that will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. These are the blessings in Thy name, Amen. COLLECTIVE: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 and justice for all. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: I'm Irby McKnight. We -- I am the Board Chairperson and we will have Board members introduce themself. We will omit that for audience unless you speak. MR. DEL BRYAN: Del Bryan, vice chair. MS. DOROTHY JENKINS FIELDS: Dorothy Jenkins Fields, member. MS. DOROTHY WALLACE GRAHAM: Dorothy Wallace Graham, member. MR. MIKE WILSON: Mike Wilson. MS. BARBARA LLOYD: Barbara Lloyd, member. MS. LA PRINCIE WYCIECESS AZOTTA BESS: La Princie Wyciecess Azotta Bess, member. MR. STEPHEN PORTER: Stephen Porter, member. MR. CHARLES J. FLOWERS: Charles J. Flowers. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Miss Graham, may we ask you to welcome our audience? MISS GRAHAM: You need a name? I'm -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: The mic, just pull it out for her. MISS GRAHAM: Thank you. I'm going to hold it. Thank you. I'm pleased to see so many of us here and I want to welcome you in behalf of the Board and welcome you in behalf of the City and the rest of the City of Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 C0 1 Overtown. It means that we are good citizens. It means 2 that we know what we need to do and we have come to get 3 directions to actually do it. Please participate. 4 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you, Miss Graham. 5 We'll entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. 6 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So moved, Mr. Chair. 7 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Second. 8 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: It has been moved and 9 seconded. 10 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Unintelligible)) LIFT. 11 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Okay, we're adding LIFT to 12 the agenda. 13 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Before the last one? 14 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes, before citizen concerns. 15 Are there any other additions to the agenda? Being that 16 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) 17 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: And in my hasty, I left off 18 one of the CDCs; New Washington Heights. It's amazing 19 that I do that since I did the agenda in that office. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Where are you putting them in? 21 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: After OCP where we have the 22 CDCs in a row and after OCP. Well, it should come before 23 OCP. Yeah, it will be before OCP. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let them go after BAM. 25 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Okay, go after BAM. Okay, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 7 being there are no other addition to the agenda, now we'll ask the motion. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So moved. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: And a second. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Second. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: It has been moved and second that we will follow the agenda. All in favor aye. COLLECTIVE: Aye. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Opposes have the same right. The next item on the agenda is the -- is Overtown the history and we'll ask Dr. Fields, a board member, to please give us a update on our history. DR. FIELDS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The information I have is from the records of the Black Archives History and Research Foundation, also from Arbor Parks from McCabe, who is city historian, and records from the City itself. What makes Overtown a sense of place, a destination of choice, a place of purpose and a place of value. A sense of place, it's a sense of place because of the land and the people. Julia Tuttle, a white business woman, relocated from Cleveland, Ohio in the late 1890's to the area that later became the City of Miami. From the U.S. Government's Homestead Act, she acquired 160 acres. Enjoying Miami's winters away from Cleveland, Julia Tuttle's vision was that Miami could and should become a Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 place for tourists. She encouraged Henry Flagler, the white industrialist, also from Cleveland, who had relocated to Florida's east coast, to extend the railroad from Palm Beach to Miami. She offered him some of her land. Julia Tuttle then assigned the west side of the land that she had near the bay to negros and factories, and once the railroad tracks were laid the area on the west side of the tracks became colored town. When the time came to incorporate the City of Miami, black men were asked to participate in order to have their -- the number required by the State. If it had not been for those black men agreeing for their names to be used for the incorporation, the City of Miami would not have been incorporated on July 28, 1896. As a matter of fact, 40 percent of the men who stood as incorporators on that day were black men, and of course women were not included because women could not vote in these United States until 1920. We know the names of the men who stood as incorporators because most of them were active in helping to establish the churches in colored town, the congregation. One church congregation, Greater Beth El A.M.E., was organized in March before the City was incorporated in July of 1896. Another church, Mount Zion's congregation, was organized September of the same year. Several others followed, including St. Agnes and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 9 St. John and Cohen temple. For more than 100 years the churches have and still anchor this community; colored town Overtown. In later years, blacks were disenfranchised and not allowed to vote in•the primaries until a decade later and it is it has been ten years or this is the anniversary of the Civil Rights Voting Act of 164. A place of purpose, Overtown, because of land and people. Many families owned their land until imminent domain took it away because of the expressway. The expressway may have been good for the City of Miami. It was destruction for a community that had developed itself. The psychological impact of uprooting this community and its culture has yet to be evaluated. Why is Overtown a place of value? Because of land and people. Adjacent to downtown, colored town Overtown is the same land that was assigned to the negros by Julia Tuttle. It's a land that the people who settled there developed and owned until displaced by imminent domain. This land has never been and for all indications will never be abandoned by the original people. Unlike Harlem and other areas, which inherited the lands that they now occupy, the indigenous people of Miami's colored town by the CDCs are prepared to participate in colored town Overtown's transformation with housing and developing a mixed -use structure in a historic setting. Mr. Chairman, it's the land and the people that Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 its] make colored town Overtown a sense of place, a destination of choice and a place of purpose and a place of value. Thank you. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: We thank you, Dr. Fields. I hope everyone paid close attention and I want the residents of this community when you leave here to remember just how important this community is. Keep in mind location is everything, and we who live here in Overtown, we have the best location in Dade county, okay. And if you think I'm wrong, just follow me around and see how quick without a car I can move from the beach to the financial district to the legal center to the medical Center to the entertainment center to the religious center. Those are all the centers I need in my life. Well, there are some other centers, but I don't need them. But those are the ones that I need. So with that, Dr. Fields, we thank you very much. Yes, and the entertainment district, the club district, right. I said that. I need that, so I'm there. DR. FIELDS: Mr. Chairman: CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes. DR. FIELDS: In my haste, there was one part that I left out that I really must say, and that is that little has been said about the physical conditions under which the laborers worked because it was really the black Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 11 1 laborers who made Miami. In order to make the streets, it 2 was necessary for them to use dynamite. Planting and 3 igniting the dynamite was a job that they had alone. It 4 is not known how many of them lost their lives in this 5 pursuit; trying to help Miami become the magic city. The 6 black men followed the railroad, and by 1900 their 7 families and businesses followed. They developed a 8 community of their own, and according to the 1904 City 9 directory, the businesses included dry good and grocery 10 stores, fish markets, a milliner, that is a hat maker, and 11 many, many other small mom and pop stores as early as 12 1904. And located adjacent to downtown Miami, Miami's 13 colored town Overtown, it was always a prime location for 14 expansion of downtown businesses and residences and for 15 downtown workers. A destination of choice. Land and 16 people. Five hotels were in the immediate area in 17 Overtown, two of them owned by the Sawyers; the Mary 18 Elizabeth and the Marcia Ann; one was owned by D.A. Dorsey 19 and others were owned -- the Carver Hotel and the Sir John 20 were later owned by corporations. Indulge me for just a 21 moment while I tell you that residents and tourists of 22 this community were part of a dynamic neighborhood. 23 Geared toward tourism, this self-contained and self 24 sufficient area was alive and busy all day every day. 25 There was constant motion, day and night. Around the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 12 1 clock business and cultural activities kept the lights on 2 and people involved. White tourists and white residences 3 frequented this neighborhood to enjoy the entertainment, 4 to partake of the exotic foods and to listen to popular as 5 well as gospel music, at least one national convention was 6 held annually in Overtown when sufficient hotels, 7 restaurants, cultural events and entertainment were in 8 full supply. The entertainment business brought by 9 business and tourists helped stabilize the economy of this 10 community, which in turn promoted pride in a people who 11 were self motivated and self sustaining. In addition to 12 regular goods and services, there were several fine 13 restaurants, a privately owned tennis court and several 14 first-class hotels. Again, the Dorsey Hotel, the Marcia 15 Ann, the Lord Calbred -- most people known know it as the 16 Sir John -- became favorite stopovers for tourists. One 17 hotel, the Mary Elizabeth, had three floors, and that was 18 the highest you could go and that was a skyscraper. The 19 Mary Elizabeth was the tallest building in Overtown. 20 People would come from miles around to look up to the 21 three stores -- stories. The Mary Elizabeth; the first 22 hotel in this community to install an elevator. If you 23 were going up three stories, you definitely had to have an 24 elevator. It was a favorite retreat for such well known 25 persons as United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 13 1 Marshall, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, labor leader A. 2 Philip Randolph and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, then 3 president of Bethune Cookman College and the National 4 Counsel of Negro Women and internationally known 5 intellectual author and journalist Web Dubois vacationed 6 here on his way to and from conferences in West Indies and 7 Cuba. Overtown developed into quite a celebrity hangout 8 for both the famous and the infamous. Nearly all of the 9 arguments were available continuously through touring 10 music, dance and drama groups as well as through 11 travelling literary types. Singers Paul Robison and 12 Marion Anderson were among the featured artists. Cast 13 members from New York Broadway musical Carmen Jones lived 14 on Northwest 2nd Avenue after performing on the other side 15 of town. Overtown's Northwest 2nd Avenue, both known as 16 The Strip and Little Broadway developed into the Great 17 Black Way, focusing on popular music and entertainment. 18 For almost three decades, Northwest 2nd Avenue from 6th 19 Street to loth Street was Miami's Little Broadway. This 20 concept developed as the area became an annual retreat for 21 streams of entertainers. It was the place to see and be 22 seen. Colored town's Overtown, just a brief part of the 23 history. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 24 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. Moving right 25 along with our agenda, the next item is the City, so if Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 14 someone will be coming forth, the City attorney? MR. JAMES VILLACORTA: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Is this on? Members of the Board, Chairman Teele. I've been asked to come before you to explain exactly how it is that the City and the CRA came to discuss settlement discussions with an organization which is now commonly referred to as Crosswinds. The City and the CRA commenced litigation in the early -- in the late 90's with a group by the name of Sawyer's Walk. It arose out of an RFP that was issued by the City of Miami in the early 90's involving the parcels which are numbered 55, 56 and 45. That RFP was awarded to a group by the name of Sawyer's Walk which required subsequently that a lease be entered into. That lease was never entered into and in the late 90's, I believe 1999, the City and the CRA commenced litigation to extinguish whatever development rights Sawyer's Walk would have on those three parcels; 55, 56 and 45. Approximately a year later with regard to parcel 46, which is Poinciana Village, the remain in that development agreement, the construction of a tower of approximately 92 units, the development had not been concluded and the CRA and the City commenced litigation to extinguish the rights to continue to develop that parcel and the tower that remained as part of the Poinciana Village project. Sometime last summer, we received an Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 15 1 unsolicited inquiry by this group by the name of 2 Crosswinds. Crosswinds advised us that they had reached a 3 settlement, an agreement -- I should say an agreement with 4 Sawyer's Walk and Poinciana Village. That agreement 5 allowed Crosswinds to step into the shoes of Sawyer's Walk 6 and Poinciana Village. At that time, I confirmed that 7 there had been an agreement reached. We were actively 8 involved in litigation, so I confirmed the ability through 9 settlement discussions to continue to have that 10 conversation and advised both the City Commission and the 11 CRA that we had received this proposal. Chairman Teele 12 and the members of the City Commission then appointed 13 Commissioner Winton to head the discussions with regard to 14 Crosswinds and any potential settlement we could reach. 15 We have been actively discussing with Crosswinds a 16 settlement over the period of the last approximately nine 17 to ten months and that proposal is currently not 18 finalized, although I have been authorized to discuss 19 generally the terms of the agreement as they exist today. 20 I'm going to ask Mr. Bloom to come up and give you a 21 term -by -term description of the settlement as it exists 22 today. 23 MR. WILLIAM BLOOM: Yes, my name is William Bloom 24 with Holland and Knight, 701 Brickel Avenue. Mr. Chairman 25 and members of the Board, we've been working diligently Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 IM 1 with a representative of Crosswinds to negotiate the terms 2 of a settlement and if all of those terms are satisfied, 3 then we envision entering into an amended and restated 4 lease with Crosswinds. That lease would be executed when 5 all the conditions are met, which would probably be in the 6 beginning to later middle of next year. The proposed 7 development would be 1,000 residential units consisting of 8 townhouses, lofts, live -work units, mid -rise construction, 9 high-rise structures and approximately 75,00 square feet 10 of retail office space at a price range of between 11 $125,000 and $250,000 initially. Crosswinds' proposal 12 would envision developing the entire project within 13 approximately five years from the date of commencement. 14 The developer under the terms of the settlement with 15 Sawyer's Walk, Limited, the respondent to the RFP, and the 16 original partners of Sawyer's Walk, Limited, would retain 17 a 5 percent interest in that legal entity with Crosswinds 18 Development buying out 95 percent of that partnership 19 interest. The settlement agreement contemplates a 120-day 20 due diligence period for Crosswinds to perform due 21 diligence of the site surveys, title work, environmental 22 studies and finalize their development plan during that 23 time frame. After that 120-day period is concluded, they 24 would proceed to seek MUSP approval, major use special 25 permit approval, from the City of Miami. That application Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 17 1 must be approved by the Executive Director of the CRA and 2 it has to be consistent with the detailed development plan 3 which the Executive Director will have approved during the 4 120-day due diligence period so that we're requiring 5 Crosswinds to develop a project in accordance with the 6 development plan that the Executive Director of the CRA 7 has approved, and any variations in that development have 8 to be approved by the Executive Director. After the due 9 diligence period is up, Crosswinds or Sawyer's Walk will 10 then proceed to seek the County approvals required under 11 the interlocal agreement with the CRA and the City and to 12 obtain the approval of the County with respect to the 13 reversionary lawsuit. There is a lawsuit involving blocks 14 45 and 56 and block 36 -- excuse me, it's 45 and 56 and 36 15 shown on the map which require the property be developed 16 by August lst of 2007 or the title will revert, so 17 Sawyer's Walk will proceed to deal with the County and get 18 the approvals required under the terms of that settlement 19 agreement and also seek to modify the terms of that 20 reverter. The pertinent provisions in the lease are 21 there's a requirement that Sawyer's Walk provide no less 22 than 20 percent of the units be affordable housing, 23 meaning that the purchasers have to have income levels 24 between 80 percent and 120 percent of a Miami Dade county 25 mean income. Again, it's a best efforts requirement and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 or-] 1 if they fail to comply with that requirement and the CRA 2 determines that they did not use their best efforts, there 3 will be a penalty of $20,000 per unit which they failed to 4 comply with. There's also a requirement that they try to 5 recruit former residents of Overtown to move back into the 6 neighborhood and to the extent that they are able to 7 attract former Overtown residents to move back in, 8 irrespective of their income level, those units sold to 9 former Overtown residents would count against the 10 affordable housing requirement. There's also a 11 requirement that up to 25 percent of the affordable units 12 be sold to residents of Overtown or the City of Miami 13 whose income is an average of 65 percent of the Miami Dade 14 County mean income. Now, these units will require them to 15 get subsidies from the County or from the State or from 16 the City, and there's no obligation on the part of the 17 City or the CRA to provide those subsidies. Again, it's a 18 best efforts obligation. The developer is also required 19 to comply with minority participation goals of a 51 20 percent minority/female participation goal on all aspects 21 of construction and property management and a 25 percent 22 minority or female participation goal with respect to 23 architectural aspects. They are also required to enter 24 into a first source hiring agreement, which will provide 25 first opportunities to residents of Overtown and the City Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 19 1 of Miami and then the County with respect to new job 2 opportunities involved with construction and property 3 management, and the goal in that agreement is a 15 percent 4 overall construction requirement of new hires. The 5 developer is also obligated in coordination with the South 6 Florida Work Force or other similar job creation entities 7 to establish a skill training and employment program to 8 help train unemployed or underemployed individuals so 9 they'll have the opportunity to obtain jobs as part of 10 this development. Another key aspect is the tax increment 11 money generated from the site. The lease will contemplate 12 that 100 percent of the additional tax increment dollars 13 generated from the site be made available for this project 14 between the date construction begins and September 15 30th, 2013 when the existinq CRA expires. The lease also 16 contains an option to purchase the property and the 17 developer would receive a credit against the purchase 18 price of the amount that they have to pay in settlement of 19 the existing litigation with Poinciana Village and 20 Sawyer's Walk of $6.5 million dollars. At this point an 21 appraisal was completed showing a market value as of 22 September 8th -- excuse me, October 18th, 2003, of 23 $6,950,000 for the property based upon the anticipated 24 development of the site. So this appraisal was not 25 highest and best use, but it was based upon the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 MIJ 1 development plan that was being proposed by the developer. 2 What is now being proposed is that new appraisal be 3 obtained to determine the highest and best use of the 4 property, and the developer would have to pay that if they 5 exercise their option to purchase and the CRA would 6 provide financing and terms and conditions to be agreed 7 upon between the new appraised value and the $6,950,000 8 number that was originally negotiated. As a condition of 9 being unable to enter into the lease, the developer has to 10 obtain MUSP approval, they have to have been able to 11 satisfy the Executive Director that they have their 12 financing in place for the first phase of the project, 13 they have to be able to establish to the Director that 14 they have their adequate equity to build the first phase 15 of the project, they also have to be -- have the Executive 16 Director approve their plans and specifications, approve 17 compliance with the minority participation goals with 18 respect to the construction of the first phase. When all 19 those conditions are satisfied, then the lease would be 20 entered into, the litigation would be settled, the parties 21 would exchange general releases and the development would 22 commence. If all those conditions are not satisfied, 23 Sawyer's Walk would not enter into the lease with the CRA, 24 the transaction would terminate and at that point in time 25 the City and CRA would have an option of proceeding to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 21 settle with the developer and pay the Sawyer's Walk and Poinciana Village $6.5 million to settle the existing litigation and exchange the releases or to continue the litigation as has been going on for a number of years. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Board members? MR. BLOOM: Thank you. MR. VILLACORTA: Mr. Chairman, could I just wrap up one -- CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes. MR. VILLACORTA: -- one issue before you get to questions? As I mentioned earlier, the general terms and conditions have not been agreed to, so to the extent as we move forward when or if an agreement is reached which is acceptable to Commissioner Winton as the appointee of the City Commission, the City Manager, the Executive Director Crosswinds, Sawyer's Walk and Poinciana Village, we will then bring that agreement before the City Commission for the City Commission's consideration. Following that consideration, the consideration by the City Commission, we will take it to the CRA to consider the settlement terms and agreements. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. Mr. Bryan. MR. BRYAN: Is there any reasonable time frame that, you know, this may be coming together in terms of that or are there any specific items that's really Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954') 522-6401 22 1 challenged between the parties? 2 MR. VILLACORTA: We had anticipated coming before 3 the City Commission as early as May 27th. We were unable 4 to get there in part because there's not an agreement as 5 to the valuation of the property in the event that they 6 exercise their option under the lease to acquire the 7 property, so there's pending appraisals which would change 8 that. Right now, the deal had been contemplated at 6.9. 9 The new appraisals -- and we've discussed with Crosswinds 10 the new appraisals and bringing the appraised value up to 11 fair market value for 46 -- 55, 56 and 45, and -- but 12 that, those terms have not been agreed to. There's 13 another issue that's pending. I think that's the main 14 issue. 15 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Are there any other -- Mr. 16 Cutler? 17 MR. CUTLER: Yes, a couple of things. There's -- 18 does 65 percent of Dade County mean income in terms of 19 defining the affordability of the housing, for affordable 20 housing, I think that it would be common sense I think to 21 -- to sort of break that down to the public so that we'll 22 know a sort of type of income that we're talking about, 23 because that's kind of vague in my perception. 24 MR. BLOOM: I apologize, I don't have the answer. 25 There's a schedule that was produced while we were doing Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 23 1 the negotiations that would tell you for a family of four 2 what the 100 percent of the income is and what the 70 3 percent or 60 percent and what the level is, but I don't 4 have that schedule with me. 5 MR. CUTLER: I think that in the future, just to 6 be able to eliminate some confusion, I think that instead 7 of coming with the formula I think that we should have 8 some figures so that when we do let the people -- make the 9 people aware that these opportunities actually exist to be 10 able to purchase housing in the area, then they'll know 11 exactly what type of income that we're talking about in 12 order take advantage of that opportunity. 13 MR. BLOOM: Right, and part of the proposal 14 though is to have Crosswinds or the developer aggressively 15 seek out member residents of Overtown and the City of 16 Miami to qualify them and they're required to hire 17 individuals to assist in that process because we really 18 are trying to make this very successful, so the word will 19 definitely get out but we will make the list available at 20 this next CRA meeting. 21 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: One other point. 22 MR. CUTLER: One other point; with the penalty 23 that you have for them not complying with that particular 24 rule, you got a $20,000 penalty per unit, correct? 25 MR. BLOOM: Yes. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 24 1 MR. CUTLER: With the value of these properties 2 and the way that this area is rapidly appreciating in 3 terms of the real estate, do you really think that that's 4 realistic? Because with just the equity that's in a lot 5 of these properties, I don't see that as being a real 6 deterrent in terms of actually getting these developers to 7 hold their feet to the fire as far as getting people in 8 this community into those houses. 9 MR. BLOOM: We tried to address that. If you 10 look carefully at the summary in front of you, you'll 11 notice the $20,000 is a minimum penalty and in the actual 12 agreement there's a formula, so they're paying a penalty 13 based upon the difference between what you could sell that 14 unit as an affordable unit and what it would sell as a 15 market rate unit, so we're trying to capture that the best 16 we can. 17 MR. CUTLER: Oh, okay. 18 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Dr. Fields? 19 DR. FIELDS: Yes, I would ask Mr. Bloom would it 20 not be appropriate for the CDCs to work with Crosswinds or 21 the developer? You said that they Crosswinds was going to 22 aggressively look for people who qualify. We've said as a 23 part of the history that the churches are anchors in this 24 community, and so it would seem to me that rather than 25 saying Crosswinds would get people to help them that would Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 25 1 be appropriate to name -- to first talk to the CDCs about 2 it but then to name them if they are willing to be the 3 conduits through which this aggressiveness would be done. 4 MR. BLOOM: We dealt with that in the settlement 5 agreement. We have a defined term community -based 6 organizations which includes the churches and the CDCs who 7 are to help identify former Overtown residents and help to 8 deal with the affordable housing issues and the employment 9 issues as well. 10 DR. FIELDS: Yes, but I'm still saying that 11 especially those CDCs, not just -- 12 MR. BLOOM: Right, there's an obligation on the 13 part of Crosswinds to retain the community -based 14 organizations. 15 DR. FIELDS: Are they named? We know who they 16 are. 17 MR. BLOOM: They're not. They're not identified 18 because -- 19 DR. FIELDS: I would -- I would again for the 20 groups who have been working; BAM, St. John and Mount Zion 21 in that area and St. John because of the because of its 22 relationship prior to this time with the land behind the 23 Lyric Theatre at least those three be named to do that 24 work because that's what they do in housing and, Mr. 25 Chairman, that's a suggestion that I hope will be Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 W. 1 considered. 2 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you very much. 3 MR. FLOWERS: Mr. Chairman? 4 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes, Mr. Flowers. 5 MR. FLOWERS: Sir, you know I have sat on many 6 boards and what you are saying to me is really old news; 7 that I came into this neighborhood -- that 20 percent to 8 80 percent of the resident (unintelligible) that moved 9 back into the neighborhood. There always been a problem 10 with the financing. There have been all type of 11 organizations set up to help them to rebuild their credit. 12 Of my knowledge today of many years I have not seen it 13 happen. You said 20 percent of whatever you build would 14 be going to those that are residents. How many do you 15 expect to move back into the neighborhood with your prices 16 and how will you try and help them repair their credit to 17 make sure that they will be able to quality for a home 18 back in Overtown? 19 MR. BLOOM: That's really a question for 20 representatives of Crosswinds to answer. What we tried to 21 do is give them incentive to seek out former Overtown 22 residents irrespective of the income constraints because 23 if they found an Overtown resident who could qualify, that 24 would count towards their affordability requirement 25 irrespective of what their income is, so they're earning Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 27 1 $50,000 or $75,000 where they wouldn't fall within the 2 brackets to be able to qualify for the affordable housing 3 but they could qualify to buy the unit on their own, that 4 would be treated as if it was sold on an affordable basis. 5 DR. FIELDS: So you said former residents as well 6 as current residents or just current residents? 7 MR. BLOOM: Former. 8 DR. FIELDS: Former residents. 9 MR. BLOOM: The concept was raised during the 10 negotiations that it would be wonderful for the community 11 to attract residents who had moved out of Overtown 12 previously -- 13 DR. FIELDS: Yes. 14 MR. BLOOM: -- to come back and live in the 15 neighborhood, and this is trying to give them an incentive 16 to cause those residents to want to move back. 17 DR. FIELDS: Then that really makes a case for 18 the churches. 19 MR. BLOOM: Yes. 20 DR. FIELDS: Because -- 21 MR. BLOOM: Exactly. 22 DR. FIELDS: Yes. 23 MR. BLOOM: The churches have been most likely to 24 be -- 25 DR. FIELDS: Yes. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 MR. BLOOM: -- able to identify those people. 2 DR. FIELDS: Correct. 3 MR. BLOOM: And that's why it mentions the 4 churches. But again, just like it didn't identify 5 specific CDCs -- 6 DR. FIELDS: Yes. 7 MR. BLOOM: -- it doesn't identify specific 8 churches. Now, we all know which churches we're talking 9 about, but we kept the document neutral and it was just -- 10 we're just requiring Crosswinds to identify for themselves 11 the CDCs or community -based organizations it was going to 12 work with. 13 DR. FIELDS: But without criteria, without some 14 basis for identifying them, any group could come in and so 15 I would think again it's important that those churches -- 16 and the churches have CDC components, so in a way we're 17 talking about one and the same thing. 18 MR. BLOOM: Uh-huh. 19 DR. FIELDS: And again, I think it's important 20 that those three be named because they do have training 21 programs. I know Bill Mozzie has been working with 22 programs to train people to pre -quality. So has David 23 Alexander, and I'm sure when Mount Zion gets started 24 they'll be doing the same thing, so it's very important 25 that they be named so that other groups don't just come Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 29 1 in. 2 MR. FLOWERS: Again, sir, where are you -- the 3 figure 20 for Overtown, what happened to the other 80 4 percent? Where you advertising for the other 80 percent 5 and when will the Overtown resident be able to move back 6 if they only have 20 percent of what you're building? I 7 was born in Overtown, I grew up in Overtown. 8 MR. BLOOM: Right. 9 MR. FLOWERS: And I have seen the same thing 10 we're talking about I grew up Overtown. 11 MR. BLOOM: Right. 12 MR. FLOWERS: And I have seen the same thing 13 we're talking about now a thousand times. If you say 80 14 percent coming from some other place and you only saving 15 20 percent for us, where is that magic number coming from? 16 Why not reverse that; the 80 percent from Overtown 17 resident and 20 percent to whoever. 18 MR. BLOOM: Then I'll defer to the representative 19 from Crosswinds to address that. 20 MR. FLOWERS: Thank you, sir. 21 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Sir, this is a reference to 22 what Dr. Fields said. Maybe you want to keep the document 23 neutral, so maybe you should -- in keeping it neutral, 24 maybe you should identify churches based in Overtown and 25 CDCs based in -- in Overtown. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 30 1 MR. BLOOM: I believe that's what the document 2 says. 3 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Okay. 4 REVEREND PORTER: Mr. Chairman. 5 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes. 6 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: A couple other things; we 7 need to know how much these units are going to cost, 8 because the bottom line in terms of eligibility and 9 affordability is going to be based on the cost of these 10 units because once we go out to try to identify people 11 that's going to be able to meet that income criteria and 12 just like you said with affordability, which that's still 13 not really clear in my mind, because in terms of the way 14 my thinking is in terms of affordable housing if you got 15 people in here and the mean income is say $20,0000, 16 $15,000, $20,000 a year, then that means that you're going 17 to have to come up with some type of subsidy to bring the 18 cost of those houses down so they'll be able to qualify 19 not only to be able to get those houses, to be able to pay 20 for them. And in terms of the actual cost, if we're not 21 dealing with actual cost and in terms of the formula that 22 you gave it for Dade County, the mean income for Dade 23 County I think 24 that that's being kind of elusive in my thinking because 25 in order for us to aggressively go out and pursue people to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 31 1 come into this neighborhood or to come back into this 2 neighborhood, then we have to know basically what kind of 3 figures -- type of figures we're talking about. First of 4 all, let me -- the developer is estimating the fees 5 initially to be -- the prices initially to be between 6 $125,000 and $250,000. From the document's perspective, 7 there's no obligation on pricing in the document so that 8 there's no restrictions that they can't raise the prices 9 above that, nor lower the prices. As for the percentages, 10 you know, 80 percent of the 120 percent, I don't have the 11 table with me, as I said, but there is a table of 12 community development. Barbara Rodriguez has a schedule 13 and I would say to you I think a family of four is 14 somewhere in the neighborhood of $120,000 was my 15 recollection, but there is a precise schedule, so that 16 wasn't pulling dollars out of the sky. My other 17 recollection is on the 50 deeply subsidized units the 18 estimate was it was going to take four to five million 19 dollars in subsidies to be able to allow those 50 units to 20 be sold to people at 65 percent of the Miami Dade County 21 mean income, so it's going to take a lot of -- lot of 22 subsidies to be able to do that. 23 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Excuse me. That 65 24 percent, the average gross income, that only applies to 5 25 percent. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 32 1 MR. BLOOM: There's -- there's a type-0. It's 2 supposed to be 25 percent of the affordable units not to 3 exceed -- 4 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: That's a type-O? 5 MR. BLOOM: Right. 6 REVEREND PORTER: Repeat that. 7 MR. BLOOM: It was supposed to be 25 percent of 8 the affordable units not to exceed 50 units. 9 LA PRINCESS BESS: Mr. Chairman? 10 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes (unintelligible). 11 LA PRINCESS BESS: La Princess Bess. I was 12 wondering, since we have time, if you could call your 13 office and ask them to fax over the schedule so we could 14 have it. 15 MR. BLOOM: Sure. 16 LA PRINCESS BESS: Before we leave. 17 REVEREND PORTER: Mr. Chairman, I have a couple 18 of questions for you. On Mr. Bloom, and the first would 19 be clarify something for me; do the former resident 20 20 percent, if you -- if Crosswinds recruits former 21 residents, that 20 percent, did I understand that you said 22 that would count against the 20 percent of -- 23 MR. BLOOM: Yes, you did. 24 REVEREND PORTER: Okay. 25 MR. BLOOM: So that if you got -- filled all 20 Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 33 1 percent of those units -- 2 REVEREND PORTER: Sure. 3 MR. BLOOM: With former Overtown units, there 4 would be no affordable housing in this development. 5 REVEREND PORTER: Okay, I think that's a really 6 important point, and the reason why I think it's an 7 important point is as a member of one of the historic 8 churches in Overtown, many of our -- our community members 9 from our church, the people that you've said that 10 Crosswinds would recruit from, are people who have done 11 quite well financially and so they've been able to move 12 out and so I think there's a great potential for 13 Crosswinds to be able to fill up 20 percent and really not 14 have to fulfill any commitment to our community that deals 15 with truly affordable housing, and when we talk about a 16 thousand units, when we talk about the revitalization and 17 the redevelopment of Overtown and we say a maximum of 50 18 units and I realize this isn't the only project in 19 Overtown and that's not Crosswinds' burden, but as a 20 community agency and trying to give feedback to 21 Commissioner Teele, that concerns me significantly because 22 we are talking about it could be 50 units made up of 23 people who make $80,000 a year when the mean or the 24 average income of folks in Overtown hovers much closer to 25 $10,000 a year. And so I wonder about that as a minister Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 34 1 in the neighborhood; is that really being fair to my 2 community? And it doesn't sound like it is, so I don't 3 know how to address that or what we can request or 4 require, but I -- that's disconcerting to me and it seems 5 like an immense loophole for a developer to come into our 6 neighborhood, take advantage of the beautiful location 7 that Chairman McKnight described and really not develop 8 our neighborhood and the human infrastructure in our 9 community, so it's a concern of mine. 10 MR. BLOOM: Well, it's a crossover of incentives 11 because obviously we tried to create the incentive to get 12 former Overtown residents to move back. We thought that 13 that was a good thing for the community. 14 REVEREND PORTER: It is not -- 15 MR. BLOOM: What your question is is offsetting 16 that. 17 REVEREND PORTER: At the expense, yeah, of the 18 actual current residents, yeah. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. Chairman, I'm not going to 20 comment on the -- as I said, I'm going to listen, but I do 21 want to try to be helpful to the developer in this regard. 22 This -- 23 (End of CD #1.) 24 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Are pitfalls than you're Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 35 1 describing because what it could unintentionally do is pit 2 the current residents against the former residents and 3 that would be extremely, extremely divisive. It's what we 4 call the Willy Lynch syndrome, but it becomes very 5 important that you listen, Bill and Alex, to the comments 6 of the board members because while they're hitting a very 7 important issue, I think it's a much deeper issue here 8 that needs to be avoided. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 9 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. Reverend Porter? 10 REVEREND PORTER: Yes. 11 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Maybe we need to ask that 12 former residents qualifying for the project means that we 13 welcome them back but you still have to have that set 14 aside for current residents. I want you to think about 15 that. Are there any other questions? 16 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Mr. Chairman? 17 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes, sir. 18 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: On this employment 19 piece, what type of agreement do you have with the 20 developers in terms of providing actual employment 21 opportunities, and I see that you have training here also 22 and I'm very concerned about that because that was -- that 23 was one thing that was specifically left in the legacy 24 that D. A. Dorsey had for Overtown was to employ the youth 25 within this community. So in terms of the actual Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 36 1 employment, because I don't see -- I see vaguely that you 2 mention the 15 percent the hiring goals in terms of that, 3 but I don't see anything that makes that stick and -- and 4 I'm concerned about that because I work in -- in the 5 employment field and I -- and I have been there for years 6 and I understand how a lot of this stuff unfolds. On 7 paper it looks good, but as it unfolds, then the realty 8 exists where we have people from other communities 9 actually coming in benefitting from the economic 10 development and in my view economic development is not 11 even taking place when people when people inside the 12 community -- when it's not putting food on the table and 13 clothing on their backs, so in terms of actual employment, 14 what -- you know, I see South Florida Work Force, which is 15 good, and other agencies that you're suggesting that 16 you're -- but what are you actually doing with the 17 developers and what kinds of commitment have they made to 18 actually hire people within this community? 19 MR. BLOOM: They have a commitment, and -- and 20 again I think it's 15 percent, saying during construction 21 and there's -- there's penalties built into the agreement 22 to the extent they don't utilize their best efforts to 23 comply with those goals, there's a monetary penalty 24 assessed. Now, obviously you have to prove that they 25 didn't use their best efforts to comply with that goal Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 37 1 before they'd have to pay the penalty, but there are 2 penalties associated with it. 3 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Can I make a 4 suggestion? Commissioner Teele and Commissioner Winton 5 put together a project that they're spearheading that it's 6 called Miami works. I think that it would be a tremendous 7 benefit to the developers and to the community if would 8 you just sort of channel that through the Miami Works 9 project to sort of provide some assistance because they 10 have a very aggressive campaign where they're recruiting 11 people in Overtown and in other parts within the poverty 12 areas of Miami within the stiff City of Miami to pursue 13 employment opportunities. 14 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. 15 MR. BLOOM: Mr. Chairman, it may be appropriate 16 for you to call up the representatives from Crosswinds to 17 field questions with respect to their marketing plan and 18 their minority participation compliance and their training 19 programs. 20 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. The next agenda 21 item is the developer Crosswinds. Representing 22 Crosswinds, Mr. Matthew Schwartz, a former planner with 23 the City of Miami for this community. 24 MR. MATTHEW SCHWARTZ: Thank you, Irby. I don't 25 know if that's good or bad. But first of all, I'd like to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 thank you for the opportunity to come here today and I'd 2 also like to thank Commissioner Teele because it really -- 3 if it wasn't for Commissioner Teele coming through with 4 UMTA funds back in the 1980s, this project wouldn't have 5 gone forth. So thank you Commissioner Teele in advance. 6 See, I've been in Overtown so long and on and off 7 over the years I feel like I'm part of the history, 8 Dorothy. 9 DR. FIELDS: You are. 10 MR. SCHWARTZ: Good and bad, but I'll tell you, 11 30 years ago when I came to Miami I was sent to Overtown 12 for a meeting in the urban renewal area and I was 13 listening to this and I came back to the planning 14 department and I said this is terrible, there's no one in 15 charge, nothing's happening, these people will being are 16 being -- excuse me -- screwed in different ways. And the 17 Planning Director at that time told me that that's a 18 County project, the urban renewal, and we're just to sit 19 there and listen, take notes and report back. There was 20 frustration then. I attended a meeting about a month ago 21 with the Urban Task Force and -- not the one last night 22 but the one before that, and at that meeting I sat there 23 and I thought that I was back again 20 years ago. There 24 was the same frustration and the same lack of momentum and 25 I think I'm telling you I'd like to say this to someone Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 39 1 who's a retired planner in the City and I -- maybe not 2 Crosswinds right now, but there really is an opportunity 3 here to really start the ball rolling. In the last 30 4 years, there's been -- or probably 40 years there's 5 probably been no private investment in Overtown. The 6 money that's come in for new housing has been heavily 7 subsidized in projects or public programs. This is an 8 opportunity where you have a developer who's willing to 9 invest somewhere between $150 and $200 million, and it's 10 not only looking at -- to be part of the development of 11 three and -a -half blocks. It would like to be part of the 12 development of all of Overtown, and in that regards they 13 have submitted proposal of Crosswinds to the Collins 14 Center for the development of everything in conjunction 15 with the community south of llth Street. The idea, this 16 is not just one little piece; it's part of a bigger 17 picture for the overall revitalization of Overtown. 18 There's one other thing I'd like to bring out, and that 19 the project Southeast Overtown Park West from its 20 inception, which is back in 1979, 1980, Dorothy, Irby, 21 Jackie, a number of people here sat through these meetings 22 and involved. There was a strong desire -- the priority 23 of the community at that time was to create middle income 24 housing for people in Overtown who left Overtown, the 25 ability for people when they got to a certain economic Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 .K 1 level to be able to remain in Overtown and people to come 2 back. That was the one of the key criterias of this 3 project. Now back to 20 years later, Crosswinds is a 4 privately owned Michigan company and Florida company. It 5 is an experienced developer. Difference from the original 6 developers who came into this project, Crosswinds has 7 developed somewhere between 15 and 20,000 units 8 nationally. It operates in six states. It is the major 9 developer of downtown Detroit. Downtown Detroit makes 10 downtown -- well, Overtown look like Coral Gables. So I 11 think there's -- you know, someone who has had experience, 12 is developing 30 acres in downtown Detroit, 550 units of 13 town homes, selling them, and it's been very successful. 14 So it has the experience of building. This project is not 15 intended, and in the interest of Crosswinds -- I'm sorry, 16 I'm sorry to have your back. But the project, the 17 intention of Crosswinds is to build affordable market work 18 force housing. Work force housing is housing that's going 19 to sell from $125,000 to $250,000. The income range that 20 we're looking for, I think that's going to fall into 21 people earning between basically $40,000 and $80,000, 22 $90,000 a year. These are people who work in Jackson, 23 people who work for the government, people who work 24 downtown, also for Overtown residents because when we 25 talked about the 60 -- it's 50 to 80 -- it's 50 to 80 Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 41 1 percent for Overtown residents medium family income. 2 We're talking about housing for people probably the low 3 end would earn probably about 30,000 a year, in that 4 range. The problem is with cost of housing is this is not 5 subsidized housing. This is -- the City is providing some 6 -- two major incentives in this project. They are selling 7 the land at a fair value based on the creation of housing 8 -- of housing in the range of this $125,000 to $250,000, 9 and it's also providing through the tax increment 10 financing generated by this project assistance in covering 11 the parking, and we project that could be about $10 12 million between now and 2013. We're talking about 13 building 1,000 units of condominiums. This is 14 homeownership housing. Crosswinds is committed to work 15 with the community and the CDCs in this process. The key 16 to this project is to bring back former Overtown 17 residents. The 50 units we talked about before that would 18 require deep subsidy are for existing Overtown residents. 19 We will have on staff a person whose job will be to go 20 door-to-door who knows the people in the community and 21 those that can purchase this housing, there would be an 22 extremely deep subsidy in the project. Also the 23 affordable units will also have limitations on their deeds 24 that they'll be in place until 2013, so it restricts how 25 they're sold. This is an area of change and I think the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 42 1 concerns of the 1970s with this project was that if we 2 don't do anything, downtown was going to recapture 3 Overtown. It probably wouldn't have happened in the late 4 seventies, but what's happening now the building boom, 5 there will be some changes coming on. This is a way of 6 creating quality moderate neighborhood -- creating an 7 urban village in Overtown centered around the Lyric 8 Theatre„ commercial around there, neighborhood commercial 9 but basically building housing that are in the form of -- 10 there's some two-story townhomes, there are live -work 11 units which you don't find downtown, you're going to have 12 stacked -- what they call stacked downtown houses; one 13 townhouse on top of another townhouse. The highest 14 building we envision will probably be between 15 and 17 15 stories, but it will have townhouses around the bottom. 16 Probably the bulk of the buildings of the housing will be 17 in eight -story buildings. The first two stories will be 18 town homes, and above it will be six stories of condos. 19 It's going to have swimming pools, recreation facilities. 20 This is going to be a first-rate project at a very 21 affordable price. That's what Crosswinds does. It has 22 lots of experience nationally in six states building 23 quality market -rate housing, affordable housing. The 24 other thing is -- the important thing is this is 25 homeownership housing. They're not building rental Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 43 1 housing. This is to stabilize the community. The 64 2 residents of Poinciana Village have been sitting out there 3 for the last ten years waiting for the rest of the 4 neighborhood to come in place, and this will be designed 5 in conjunction with that character. We intend to use the 6 CDCs and I know we've been nebulous in the past in our 7 meetings in the past with them. We were waiting actually 8 for the agreement with the City so we knew exactly what we 9 -- what our obligations were, but it's crucial that we 10 work with the CDCs, the community groups, the archives in 11 creating this neighborhood. This is a joint effort. We 12 are the developer we intend to develop it and sell it back 13 to the residents in the community and we're in here for 14 the long haul. Our intention is to be here for more than 15 five years, hopefully. There's -- we believe there's a 16 very strong project and this project will move forth a lot 17 faster. If we could sell it out in one year, we could be 18 like some of the projects downtown with much higher -- 19 we'll be able to, you know, turn this around and build it, 20 you know, within two years. We envision a four- to 21 five-year buildout on this project, but our -- the key to 22 this project and I think what is owed to this community is 23 to make sure that there are former and existing Overtown 24 residents part of this process and we are committed to 25 that. We are commit today working with the churches. Our Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 CIE 1 intent is to offer pre -sales to existing Overtown 2 residents through the churches. As far as the job 3 training, there are requirements for black participation 4 as far as different types of both in the construction jobs 5 and in the maintenance jobs. As this project develops, 6 we'll probably have a demand, you know, for -- this will 7 be a condo association with a thousand condos. That will 8 probably require 30 people to do the maintenance of the 9 grounds. This is to keep -- to really bring this above 10 the quality of what you find in the rest of Miami. The 11 intent is to have this as locally based. We will go out 12 and recruit those jobs for Overtown residents. I've heard 13 -- I've sat at meetings and I've listened to developers 14 tell you this, and if you don't see it written you don't 15 always believe it. The City has put in their agreement 16 lots of -- not -- not everything is so easy in the City's 17 agreement. It's this thick and there are about 40 18 different versions of it over the last eight months, but 19 what it does say very clearly is that the City doesn't 20 turn over everything until you know, we're you know, we 21 have proved in the first phase that we have met these 22 obligations. The City has been very careful in not 23 turning this over and having to worry about eight years 24 from now coming back and things not being done. The 25 penalties are high. We intend -- and we have already met Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 45 1 with the be labor unions to discuss the job training 2 program. We have worked with the South Florida Work Force 3 and we would like to use this as a model both in Miami and 4 in our companies to develop this company, so I thank you 5 and I'm prepared to answer any questions and I'm sorry I 6 don't have any renderings yet but we just -- we retained 7 -- we had a company called RTKL up until about three, four 8 weeks ago and then we decided RTKL, that was -- that, you 9 know, you really needed to be local. We needed someone 10 who knew how to move a plan through the City's development 11 process, so we hired probably the premier Miami 12 architectural firm, Architectonica who has designed the 13 new Federal courthouse down here, who designed the Miami 14 Arena and more importantly they designed the building in 15 Miami Vice; remember, it has a hole in it, on Brickel 16 Avenue. So I think it will bring high quality to this. 17 We're going to bring high quality to this. It will 18 enhance the neighborhood, but the success of this project 19 will be dependent upon making sure that existing and 20 former Overtown residents are part of the process. 21 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Board members? 22 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Mr. Schwartz, would 23 you elaborate a little bit more on your Detroit program; 24 how it actually worked there, because this is a whole new 25 experience for all of us. If you have had this, how did Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 46 1 you fulfill the requirements as far as to this so that we 2 can understand how it happened somewhere else and how to 3 expect -- 4 MR. SCHWARTZ: In Detroit, the City -- it was an 5 urban renewal area that had remained vacant, been vacant, 6 had some environmental issues that I believe Crosswinds -- 7 the City sold it to Crosswinds at $3,000 per unit, the 8 land cost. Crosswinds then was working with some of the 9 community groups, has marketed it and has sold it back to 10 residents. It actually -- in Detroit, it had to start 11 really creating anyone living downtown, so that was the 12 basis. I'd like to get -- next time I'll bring the expert 13 on that to explain it to you. I'm sorry, I -- my -- I 14 can't get into details on that, unfortunately. I'm not 15 the one. 16 DR. FIELDS: Matthew, I would just ask that -- as 17 I said before -- that you not be so vague, especially in 18 trying to recruit former residents; that instead of saying 19 churches, that our churches have established CDCs -- 20 MR. SCHWARTZ It says that in the agreement. 21 It says churches, CDCs -- 22 DR. FIELDS: No, no, but you name the churches 23 that have the CDCs. 24 MR. SCHWARTZ: Oh -- 25 DR. FIELDS: And if those churches/CDCs want to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 47 1 hire others, because I'm sure there are others in the 2 community who can do it who want to do it, but let the 3 churches be the ones that you contract with rather than 4 just say churches -- 5 MR. SCHWARTZ: Name the churches. 6 DR. FIELDS: -- that have the CDCs, yes. 7 MR. SCHWARTZ: Oh. 8 DR. FIELDS: Yes, and if those churches slash 9 CDCs want to -- to hire others because I'm sure there are 10 others in the community who can do it or who want to do it 11 but let the churches be the ones that you contract with 12 rather than just say churches, existing churches with 13 CDCs. I mean, name them, because we have them in this 14 Overtown who have training programs, who have to train 15 people who are trying to pre -quality. They have a 16 membership that they can pull from. 17 MR. SCHWARTZ: Thank you. 18 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Mr. Chair, isn't it 19 the City's responsibility to have those things implemented 20 in the contract before the deal goes through? 21 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: The City of Miami has a 22 (unintelligible) hiring agreement that they don't live up 23 to themselves, so let's not leave that up to them. They 24 don't live up to theirs. 25 MR. SCHWARTZ: The -- my -- what the City's Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 agreement is, before the first phase -- there's 250 units. 2 The way this agreement reads, before the City signs off on 3 it they have to verify that we have all the minority 4 contracting, that we have, you know, the units that were 5 sold, all the provisions that are adhered to. 6 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: My question is who's 7 going to oversee that? The City? You? 8 MR. SCHWARTZ: No, it has to be the CRA. 9 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: CRA? 10 MR. SCHWARTZ: The executive director of the CRA. 11 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: And how exactly is 12 that going to happen? That's a question for -- for you. 13 MR. FRANK RAULSON: For me? Frank Raulson, 14 Executive Director of the CRA. These items that are 15 stipulated in the CRA these items in the settlement that 16 are stipulated, the Executive Director will sign off on, 17 will come to me and I will determine if they have met it 18 or if they have not met it, and if they have not met it I 19 will not sign off on it. 20 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Can we take a motion all of 21 our action will be taken at the 6:00 p.m. board meeting? 22 MR. CUTLER: Mr. Chairman. 23 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Mr. Cutler. 24 MR. CUTLER: Mr. Schwartz, it seems as if we have 25 a model that you've done in Detroit. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 R• 1 MR. SCHWARTZ: But Detroit, as I believe -- and 2 I'll get the expert here -- I believe in Detroit it didn't 3 have all these provisions on income levels and who we had 4 to sell it to. This is things that the City has put in 5 place that -- and I think the situation here is somewhat 6 different. Detroit there was it was a much -- the concern 7 of the City of Detroit was to get development going and to 8 resell it to bring anyone back at a certain price range 9 and to create a market for housing that sells for 10 $300,000. It was, you know, in Detroit was rather 11 phenomenal, so it was a quality product and it worked with 12 the community (unintelligible) I don't have the details. 13 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Okay, so there were 14 -- there were no affordable housing goals? 15 MR. SCHWARTZ: I believe there may have been, and 16 I need to -- I will get that for you. 17 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Will there be 18 multiple phases of development. 19 MR. SCHWARTZ: Right now we envision probably 20 four phases to the project, but a lot of it we would hope 21 to if we can get the agreement and it gets approved by the 22 City and the CRA, come the end of June we would open a 23 sales office in probably in the fall and it depends on how 24 fast you sell these units. 25 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: The 20 percent of Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 50 1 affordable housing 2 MR. SCHWARTZ: Goes throughout each -- each -- 3 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Each phase. 4 MR. SCHWARTZ: Each phase of it. The same thing. 5 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: So that would be 6 four times the 20 percent. 7 MR. SCHWARTZ: No, it's the 20 -- it's the 20 -- 8 it's the same 20 percent. It's -- if there are 200 units, 9 it's 20 percent of those 200 units would be affordable. I 10 think the one thing is that, you know, it's not 20 percent 11 of the people from Overtown or former Overtown residents. 12 The thing is that we're going to go out and try to get 50 13 percent because that is the market, and if you look at the 14 demographics of, you know, where the major employment are, 15 I think we would be advertising heavily in Miami Times. 16 We would bring to you a whole program of how we can 17 effectively -- but I think the keys is the churches, and I 18 think this project is crucial to the churches because it 19 brings back an opportunity for a lot of their parishioners 20 to live in Overtown. The problem is that mnst of the 21 churches' congregations moved from Overtown to Liberty 22 City to Caroll City to -- now they're in Miramar, 23 Plantation and heading north to Boca, so I think there's a 24 -- you know, it's -- if the churches are going to survive, 25 I think bringing this element to the population is very Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 51 1 important. 2 REVEREND PORTER: Mr. Chair? 3 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes, Reverend Porter. 4 REVEREND PORTER: Mr. Schwartz I have a couple of 5 questions on that what sort of studies have you done in 6 the congregations to determine their interest level in 7 people moving back? 8 MR. SCHWARTZ: Well, we have not had that, but a 9 study was done last year in Liberty City looking at the 10 redevelopment area there and there were surveys done to 11 about 300 households looking at areas where people had 12 migrated to -- to find out their interests; what they were 13 like, what they wanted, profiles and also there were 14 surveys done with City of Miami employees which gave a 15 profile who would be interested in what, and I think from 16 there we, you know, a lot of similarities here. We're not 17 looking at building single family homes. We're looking at 18 building larger condominiums, and I think the average unit 19 will be 1,100, 1,200 hundred square foot, which is a good 20 size for if you look at the downtown housing market for 21 inner city. We will start now once we get the go-ahead 22 from the City. In fact, we were going to start this -- 23 next month there's a series of focus groups to sit down 24 with people from the congregations. We've talked to the 25 ministers, we've talked to people from the community, but Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 52 1 to really do focus groups and understanding how we can 2 bring them in, what incentives, and I think one of the 3 incentives will be to offer a discount, you know, through 4 the churches where maybe there's a way of returning 5 through the CDC. These are the things -- there are a lot 6 of little -- a lot of lot of big pieces that need to be 7 put together, but once we get -- we start going on this, 8 we can start working. We see this as a joint effort of 9 the community, the Overtown Advisory Board with the 10 developer. 11 REVEREND PORTER: Well, I have a follow-up 12 question which is slightly different although a comment 13 would be, you know, I'm thinking about my church and I'm 14 thinking about the folks that did move out but moved out 15 30 or 40 years ago and I -- it's -- I just I have 16 difficulty seeing the retired folks who make up the 17 substance of the commuter churches in Overtown packing up 18 and moving, leaving the home they've had for 30 years in 19 Liberty City and moving back, but it's just -- maybe I'm 20 wrong, but the second question would be I don't know if 21 you received this from Mr. Bloom -- 22 MR. SCHWARTZ: I have this one, but perhaps you 23 -- 24 REVEREND PORTER: But perhaps you if you want to 25 glance at it and maybe you can explain something to me Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 53 1 because I might be misunderstanding it -- if you look at 2 your agreement, and let's say the affordable housing is 3 between 80 and 120 percent and so that's looking at a 4 medium income of at least 38,550 to be able to afford it. 5 Is that -- 6 MR. SCHWARTZ: That's correct. You realize we're 7 providing this without a guarantee of any kind of 8 subsidies from a surtax program or other programs, so some 9 of the units are just going to have to be provided at that 10 cost by the developer, and that's what this agreement 11 calls for. The 50 units for the -- that are really 12 exclusively for existing Overtown residents -- 13 REVEREND PORTER: Uh-huh. 14 MR. SCHWARTZ: If -- the problem is the cost of 15 construction today, you can't -- you can't build anything 16 -- the cost of building a unit of minimum size is 17 somewhere you know $120,000, $130,000. 18 REVEREND PORTER: Yeah, I -- 19 MR. SCHWARTZ: You know, construction costs are 20 $80 to $110 a square foot. 21 REVEREND PORTER: I'm just asking a question 22 about that. 23 MR. SCHWARTZ: Sure. 24 REVEREND PORTER: About the percentages, and then 25 if you were talking about 65, I'm guessing -- I don't have Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 54 1 a calculator -- it would be somewhere around $30,000 -- 2 MR. SCHWARTZ: That's right. 3 REVEREND PORTER: -- median income, now is that 4 what you're -- you're assuming their kind of average 5 salary would need to be -- or is that what the purchasing 6 price for them would be? 7 MR. SCHWARTZ: No, that would be their income 8 would be -- 9 REVEREND PORTER: Okay. 10 MR. SCHWARTZ: So someone -- 11 REVEREND PORTER: Can you tell me then -- 12 MR. SCHWARTZ: And the subsidy in those units may 13 be significantly higher. It may be a $180,000 unit that 14 is made affordable, and this is one of the reasons the 15 City's CD office is looking at this, working on this with 16 the deep subsidies, more so the Knight Foundation is 17 interested in doing this that we believe Barbara Rose has 18 been working with us and through the Collins Center, so I 19 think there's a real emphasis on creating this deep 20 subsidy for the Overtown residents. We estimated it 21 something like $100,000 per unit and basically a grant to 22 make it feasible. 23 REVEREND PORTER: Is -- 24 MR. SCHWARTZ: So I mean, it -- that's the 25 problem, unless it's heavily subsidized. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 55 1 REVEREND PORTER: Yeah, I understand. I 2 understand the problem and it's a hard problem for you to 3 overcome. I understand that. I'm just looking at the 4 numbers, thinking if you have to have a 30 percent - a 5 $30,000 income, how many people that are currently 6 residents of Overtown come anywhere close to applying to 7 being able to do that? 8 MR. SCHWARTZ: It's -- it's rather a small 9 number, but there are residents in Overtown -- Mr. 10 McKnight has told me due to his expertise in income taxes 11 of Overtown residents that there is a segment of the 12 population, there are people who can afford it. We're 13 going to go out and find them and make sure they want to 14 stay here and they don't want to move to some other 15 neighborhood. That's part of our obligation. 16 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Mr. Brian. 17 MR. BRYAN: Reverend Porter, back to the 18 churches, there is another side of -- they say to every 19 coin it's two sides, where if the population that 20 presently visits a church or worships in the churches, if 21 they're not going to move back as they go on to the 22 ultimate life stage, who's going to go to the church? So 23 bringing new people back is essential but you want to find 24 reasonable mix. So there's no one answer to all the 25 problems is one, and secondly, as this -- if this goes Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 56 1 forward as it is, what this is going to generate is a lot 2 more jobs, a lot more economic opportunities to 3 businesses, then there are more persons who can afford 4 more houses. This is a small portion of all the land that 5 is available, so it's -- there's no perfect -- no perfect 6 solution. 7 MR. SCHWARTZ: We're talking -- right now I 8 believe the population of Overtown is about 8,000 people. 9 This project in the first thousand units would bring in 10 probably 3,000 -- probably 2,500 to 3,000 new residents. 11 DR. FIELDS: Mr. Chairman. 12 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Dr. Fields. 13 DR. FIELDS: I also want to talk about the -- 14 speak to the potential that we have through the churches. 15 Reverend Porter, I suspect that there are a lot of empty 16 nesters who are former members of the pioneer churches who 17 you've never met who's never been to church who haven't 18 been to churches in Overtown in the last 20 or 30 years, 19 and people are retiring earlier now so that the older 20 people that you see coming in on walkers and whatever are 21 really in their what, eighties and nineties, but there's a 22 group of late fifties and early sixties who now have empty 23 nests and who would I think be very interested in coming 24 back to the -- to their roots, to their churches, and so I 25 think there's a whole population out there that through Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 57 1 the school reunions, high school reunions, class of -- 2 class of 1939 Booker T., having graduated 65 years ago, is 3 having a big banquet this weekend, and so I really think 4 that there are people out there who will be very 5 interested in this. In fact, they have expressed it and 6 have -- are looking forward to it. So Mr. Flowers can say 7 something more about that. 8 MR. SCHWARTZ: This is also from a developer's 9 standpoint the importance of the Lyric Theatre, the Folk 10 Life Village, it creates this character for this 11 neighborhood and the other thing is that downtown Miami 20 12 years ago when this project started was not an in place to 13 live. Today it's an in place. You're being surrounded by 14 80 -- I mean 50-story buildings coming in on Biscayne 15 Boulevard, so I think, you know, there's a whole -- this 16 is the people from Broward even think that this would be 17 an acceptable place now where they might not have. 18 Everyone wants to get into a real estate deal where the 19 prices keep on going up. 20 REVEREND PORTER: Yeah, my only concern like for 21 instance you invoked the knight Foundation anD the work 22 they've done through Collins Center, which I've watched 23 and had an interest in and supported, but even then when 24 they first began discussions with developers and we looked 25 at what it would take to restore Overtown, they were Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 W. 1 talking in percentages more along the lines of you could 2 bring in two thirds and 30 percent of current residents 3 you would have to keep, so you can add -- add in, and so 4 when I am looking at these things,.I'm just asking if you 5 followed this model, is there really going to be -- when 6 you have those -- those jobs and you say more housing 7 later down the road that this would inspire and kick off, 8 would those things come back to current residents? And 9 I'm just not sure it will, and so that's why I'm asking 10 questions; because the people -- and the reason why I'm 11 even here today is the people I live with aren't going to 12 be eligible to buy these places. 13 MR. SCHWARTZ: That's the importance of I think 14 of follow-up programs and things that work with this, the 15 construction, to make sure if there -- there are 75, 100 16 thousand feet of commercial space, there will be 50, 100 17 jobs created here, retail jobs types of things. We will 18 go and work with Booker T., the students part-time and we 19 want to work with the OAB and set up these types of -- you 20 know, come back every month to review and give us ideas on 21 how we can proceed. We do not intend to do this project 22 in isolation or just solely dealing with Frank, who has to 23 review everything we do. This is a public project, public 24 private partnership, and we'd like to make sure this is a 25 model of what it should be, and Crosswinds is committed to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 59 1 do this. 2 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Okay, Mr. Cutler. 3 MR. CUTLER: Okay, looking -- looking at this 4 mean income and from -- from the information that we 5 received earlier, is it fair for me to assume that -- 6 okay, now, you said with the affordabilities of the range 7 of these houses it will be from 100 and there is no -- no 8 really top threshold on that, so that's to say some of 9 these houses will go for more than $200,000? 10 MR. SCHWARTZ: Yeah, I think there will be a 11 range and I think the average unit by the time this gets 12 constructed will be somewhere between $190,000 and 13 $200,000, so there would be half above and half -- if you 14 look at the cost of housing, it's kind of a sticker shock 15 when you go around today. The cost of construction has 16 risen so much. Last year the housing in Miami Dade County 17 went up 20 -- 23 percent. I mean, it's an incredible 18 inflation. Compared to the rest of the market, this is 19 going to be very affordable. The units at 80 percent of 20 the median family income, without subsidies that's 21 probably the place where you can -- where we could really 22 start without the developer getting real deep subsidies, 23 there is a subsidy in the land and the land's at a fair 24 price. They keep the land, you know, within $8,000 to 25 $10,000 per unit, which is -- makes this thing feasible, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 and there is a subsidy to help with the structured parking 2 which sometimes costs $10,000 to $11,000 per unit, and the 3 idea of this will -- from a developer's standpoint, was to 4 create a truly mixed community economically. 5 MR. CUTLER: Right. 6 MR. SCHWARTZ: It's not -- and it's not having 7 one building lower income and one higher. This is, you 8 know, apartment 407 can be selling for $200,000 and 9 apartment 408 can be one that would be one of these 10 subsidized units, and that's a requirement and that's 11 something we intend to do so as to create this as a real 12 up-and-coming neighborhood, the right image, and it's 13 going to spill over and it has to be very careful so we 14 don't have -- end up with speculators coming on other 15 blocks and building -- you know, putting things in and 16 forcing people out. This property has been vacant since 17 the mid 1980s -- 18 MR. CUTLER: Right. 19 MR. SCHWARTZ: And so this doesn't involve any 20 displacement. The people who relocated back in the 21 eighties, there was 200 and the Culmer Place public 22 housing west of the expressway between 5th and 6th Street 23 was built really to relocate those people who wanted to 24 remain in Overtown. That relocation activity was -- 25 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Mr. Schwartz. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 61 1 MR. SCHWARTZ: I'm sorry. 2 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: I'm sorry to cut you off. 3 No, no, no. I don't want you to leave. I'm glad you just 4 mentioned what you did. That development was built to 5 accommodate Overtown residents who lived in the line of 6 the Metro Rail because we didn't want anymore people 7 displaced from the community, but we had already asked you 8 not to bring us anymore low income housing because we 9 couldn't change the economic outlook of the community if 10 they kept dumping low income people, and then they we had 11 a choice and when we said we didn't want anymore public 12 housing they said, well, we will build these townhouses 13 and if the 200 people who will be displaced because of the 14 Metro Rail will not require relocation fees, we will take 15 that fee and make it as the down payment and they would 16 own these townhouses on Fifth Street that you see there 17 now. However, my good friend that lives there and moved 18 from 147th Street, which is where the Metro Rail Overtown 19 station stands, to this day, she does not own that unit. 20 They did not accept the relocation fees. Some people did 21 and those people moved on, but the ones who went there did 22 not accept the relocation monies because they wanted that 23 -- those dollars to go for downpayment and closing costs 24 on a unit that we were -- they were led to believe they 25 would own. All these years later, they still living in Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 62 1 public housing. They do not own those units and it seem 2 like just they and I remember this promise. What can 3 happen now to make certain we do not repeat that mistake? 4 MR. SCHWARTZ: Okay, these are all going to be 5 for sale units, and those 50 units we're going to have to 6 provide this deep subsidy. 7 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yeah, I understand 8 (unintelligible) that's what I'm talking about, the 9 subsidy, because that's what happened there because they 10 did not accept the dollars for relocation, they allowed 11 those dollars to be used in subsidy so that they could own 12 those townhouses. They do not own them. 13 MR. SCHWARTZ: Well, that's HUD. That was built 14 as a public housing project, straight public housing. 15 That -- and what you pointed out, Irby, was something the 16 Federal government when the City started this project, 17 that was it. They red -lined it and said there's no more 18 low income housing in Overtown because there's too -- 19 there's a large concentration. They would mandate it to 20 mix the housing, mix the income levels in Overtown, and 21 that's what this Overtown Park West Redevelopment Project 22 was about; rental housing that was built in Park West and 23 homeownership. And in Overtown, since there was so little 24 homeownership left, by the time this project came by most 25 of the homeowners had, you know, abandoned the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 63 1 neighborhood many years before. 2 DR. FIELDS: Not just abandoned, no, no. 3 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: No, imminent domain threw 4 them out. 5 MR. SCHWARTZ: But there are also -- people left 6 on their own, you know, after, because the conditions of 7 the neighborhood declined. I mean, we could go between 8 40,000 and 8,000 -- 9 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. Thank you very 10 much. 11 MR. CUTLER: He still didn't answer my question. 12 What I'm concerned about, okay, the bottom -- the bottom 13 line cap that they put on these houses, okay, in the upper 14 threshold, okay, now some of these houses will be going 15 for in excess of $200,000. Okay, now my concern is that 16 this 38 -- this $38,000 is too high, and based on the 17 price that they're actually getting this property for and 18 based on the way the property taxes are going up and based 19 on the way that the equity is going to rise once this 20 project is finished, I think the profit -- the profit 21 margins in this development is going to be tremendous and 22 I think that -- that the residents in this community 23 should be able to benefit from those profits. I 24 understand about the deep subsidy, but the subsidies that 25 I'm looking at is not that deep considering what the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 64 1 actual value of this property is going to be once it's 2 developed and the actual equity that's going to be 3 accelerated within this property and I think it would be 4 to the advantage of the people that's here right now to be 5 able to benefit in some way shape or fashion with that 6 realty, and I think that the mean income that they have 7 here for those units is too high from my -- from my point 8 of view. 9 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: All right, thank you very 10 much. The next item on the agenda are Black Archives. 11 MS. LINDA LOGAN: Good afternoon. My name is 12 Linda Logan. I'm the Executive Officer of the Black 13 Archives. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the 14 Board, Commissioner. Black Archives is greatly in favor 15 of redevelopment in Overtown. As Dr. Fields so eloquently 16 said, we have documents of a time when Overtown was a 17 vital and thriving community and we want to make sure that 18 that comes around again. In that line, we are asking that 19 this Board ask for a resolution asking the CRA to 20 reappraise the three and -a -half blocks that is under 21 discussion by Crosswinds so that it is appraised at the 22 highest and best usage, allocate the difference between 23 the 6.9 million that is in the deal with the City and the 24 actual we think re -appraisal value of those properties 25 will be two to three times that much and that the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 65 1 difference in that be put into a trust for redevelopment 2 of Overtown. The $6.9 million appraisal price was arrived 3 on the average of two appraisals and the standard that was 4 used was not the highest and best use valuation of the 5 property. We think that the City is being asked to 6 subsidize gentrification of Overtown. They're being asked 7 to give this land -- sell this land to Crosswinds at a 8 reduced price. Crosswinds is a very successful company, 9 as Mr. Schwartz has told us, and we know about their 10 projects. We feel that they are able or certainly could 11 find a way to do the project and we are in the support of 12 the project; anything that redevelops Overtown, but not at 13 the expense of giving this -- of selling this land to them 14 at a price that is not the true market value. We ask that 15 this Board consider asking the City to form a trust and 16 that the difference between the six point 9 million 17 dollars that the City was willing to accept and the true 18 appraised value of that land be put into that trust and 19 that trust be allocated in some way, shape or form to the 20 CDCs for the for use of job creation, affordable rental 21 and purchased housing, and in this ways that will preserve 22 the history and the cultural of Overtown that made it once 23 such a thriving community. Thank you. 24 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. Board members, 25 are there any questions for Mrs. Logan? Thank you very Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 W. 1 much. Being that there are none, Mr. John Hall, did you 2 wish to speak at this time? 3 MR. JOHN HALL: (Unintelligible.) 4 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you very much. BAM, 5 Mr. Bill Mozzie. BAM is Beth El A.M.E. 6 MR. MOZZIE: (Unintelligible.) 7 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: You have to come up. 8 MR. MOZZIE: Bill Mozzie, CEO of BAM Development 9 Corporation and of Greater Beth El A.M.E. Church. I don't 10 want to regurgitate what the Black Archives just 11 expressed, but I want to be sure that it's understood what 12 this effort is all about. As this whole process have been 13 moving about we've always said that we would like to have 14 something at the end of the day so that the community and 15 the people in the community can hang their hats on, have 16 an opportunity to do some investments or maybe even 17 purchase a home because everything showing up to that 18 particular point left out the community as we saw it and 19 we kept trying to figure out the best way to do that. 20 When we began to learn that the cost of the land as it was 21 being presented to the current developers was below what 22 we considered a fair market value, to us that turned on a 23 great light as it relates to how to establish some benefit 24 for the people in the community, so to continue on what 25 was said just prior to my being here, the highest and best Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 67 1 use is going to describe a different number and we would 2 like for the Overtown Advisory Board to go on record as 3 saying that if those dollars do occur based on a new 4 appraisal then some trust, whether it's used by CDCs, 5 private developers in the community or private individuals 6 or whomever, that will be decided at a later date but the 7 trust needs to be established somewhere so at the end of 8 the day the community Overtown itself will have something 9 to hang their hats on, will have a starting point and be a 10 part of this whole development effort. 11 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. Board members? 12 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Yes. I guess this 13 will be a kind of like searching up, maybe Mr. Raulson and 14 yourself and certainly Mr. Schwartz, there are a lot of 15 words maybe many of us don't quite understand the MUSP and 16 the rest of that and you're talking about highest and best 17 use. Just flipping the coin back, would the highest and 18 best use, Mr. Raulson, probably would that allow the 19 development to go forward and would that allow the 20 developer to have room to accommodate the 20 percent or 21 whatever that number is? This seems to be -- I don't know 22 if this has been in other conversations, but what would be 23 the effect of doing that? 24 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Are you looking -- re 25 appraising the property. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 MR. BLOOM: Obviously if you're getting an 2 appraisal of the highest and best use, you know, that's 3 not taking into account restrictions. If to the extent 4 you impose a restriction of 20 percent affordable housing 5 and there's a cost associated with delivering that 20 6 percent, that -- that would have to be taken into account 7 in the appraisal to the extent that you limit the 8 developing rights, that has to be taken into account in 9 the appraisal to the extent that you limit the development 10 rights, that has to be taken in account in the appraisal 11 to the extent that those development rights are something 12 less than what would be determined to be the best and 13 highest use. The same thing would go to the job training 14 programs, the minority participation programs. Typically 15 someone is going out -- highest and best use in the market 16 is what someone -- a willing buyer is willing to pay and 17 willing to seller is willing to accept without those types 18 of restrictions, and what the CRA has already ordered 19 based upon the action taken at the last board meeting is 20 an appraisal of those three and -a -half blocks based upon 21 their highest and best use. 22 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. 23 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: I think in response 24 to that, if the difference would substantially establish a 25 trust, the community will probably be willing to accept Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 those items that would shortcome or reduce the cost so 2 that if the monies, the difference between the base and 3 the high was available, you can absorb enough money in 4 there to take care of this 20 percent and all these other 5 kinds of things that you would want to do in the 6 community, so I think we ought to all be trying to figure 7 out how to make it work so the balance is there, okay, and 8 I understand what the developer is saying and that makes a 9 whole lot of sense but you flip the coin around, if the 10 dollars are there, then the decisions for the community 11 could be made based on what the dollars are and I 12 guarantee you there will be plenty of money to offset that 13 20 percent. 14 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you very much. Are 15 there any other questions, board members? Okay, thank 16 you. Washington Heights, Jackie bell. 17 MS. JACKIE BELL: Good afternoon. My name is 18 Jackie Bell. I happened to be a child of a property owner 19 mother father who was displaced by I-95. As Dr. Fields 20 told me once, her family saw it coming and they left 21 first. I will say this to this body. The City of Miami 22 Dade County Department of Transportation back in 1978, 179 23 wanted to build a Metro Rail. Now, go back and remember 24 in the forties and fifties they came through and took our 25 land for a highway. But in the late seventies, they came Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 70 1 back to that community and this time they want to build a 2 rail system that we all know as metro transportation. 3 After doing so much rape in the first, what they came and 4 told the property owners was that we will pay you one 5 penny per square foot for your land. Now, that community 6 had a community of about 40,000 people. The families was 7 moved. Then come urban removal and they promised the 8 black people who were there that when they rebuilt it they 9 could come again. They said the same thing with the road. 10 Now with Metro Movers and all of this, and today I stand 11 here and I hear you talking about 50 people who used to 12 live here could come back. Great. But I know all of you 13 who are sitting in here and the people who are in the dais 14 probably have made some deals or want something else to 15 happen, but I'm going to read to you what Dade County 16 Department of Transportation said when they put together 17 the community's plan to send to Washington and 18 Commissioner Arthur Teele, who is a wonderful man -- no 19 buts, Commissioner. You in a hot seat today, okay, 20 and I think this black community you've been on a hot seat 21 for a while. You're too intelligent, okay. But today I 22 think this Board should be ashamed of itself, okay, and 23 the reason I said that is it seem mighty strange that you 24 all just became important so you all could pass this, 25 okay. But the way they -- the City, the way the County Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 01 1 and the City wrote this and Matthew you know I'm telling 2 the truth 'cause you was there with me, okay. The way 3 they wrote this was that the Overtown Advisory Board would 4 be the monitoring and recommendation people then, so what 5 y'all been doing twenty-one years? 6 COLLECTIVE: Thank you. You go, girl. 7 MS. BELL: Okay, and I want to know if this Board 8 rescinding the resolution that you all passed and 9 supported that gave Washington Heights the original 10 initial development and I want to know if this board today 11 have rescinded the fact that you all said 50 percent 12 equity went to black equity participation and black 13 property owners. Y'all rescinded that? Y'all put it in 14 writing and send it to somebody? Did the County rescind 15 its initial resolution saying that? Did y'all send it to 16 Washington and say well, now that you all have given us 17 the money and now we haven't been able to do anything, we 18 really don't think that it is okay that black 19 participation be a part of this, okay. We don't think the 20 black property owners got no right. We going to give 21 Crosswinds and -- and Commissioner Teele, this is only 22 four blocks, not six. This was the initial four blocks, 23 and the reason the City of Miami got that money, they 24 promised us -- okay, they promised us, okay, that they 25 knew that they had done that community terrible and they Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 72 1 was continuing to ask black property owners to give up 2 their economics because a people without a land is a 3 hungry people, and African Americans from the beginning of 4 Dade County line to the end of it is losing their 5 property. And don't tell me, McKnight, they losing it 6 'cause they ain't paying the taxes. They losing it for a 7 whole bunch of other reasons. I mean, the real truth is, 8 Commissioner, you cannot let this go. I don't care what 9 it takes. You cannot, and if this board approves it, it 10 tells me a lot more. But you cannot give up that. You 11 are one of Gwen Cherry's like myself, people who mentored 12 you and who stood for you, and this black community do not 13 have any idea why the lady is dead but she stood for this 14 black community and as being my mentor and my sister I 15 would be remiss to stand here today and say that anyone 16 who gets that land and does not heed to how the City of 17 Miami -- first how Dade County -- and Matthew know I'm 18 telling the truth because I can name every one. None of 19 y'all who sitting around this table was there. I was 20 there. I was there. I'm the one who was there. I'm the 21 one Mayor Sturheim and Winkins made cry in the chamber, 22 and Beverly Philips, Ruth Shaclara Austin in there because 23 women -- and Dorothy, you blessed. Women were not allowed 24 to be big shots or head of nothing, but we fought this. 25 You cannot on no front give it to nobody but the way it's Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 73 1 supposed to be. 2 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Thank you. St. John, Mr. 3 David Alexander. 4 MR. DAVID ALEXANDER: Good afternoon, ladies and 5 gentlemen. Good afternoon, audience. My name is David L. 6 Alexander. I'm president CEO of St. John Community 7 Development Corporation. Greetings, Commissioner. First 8 of all, let me add my thanks to you to have this meeting 9 in the community today. I think it's a very important 10 meeting and hopefully it will lead to others like it. My 11 comments will be brief today. I do have three or four 12 important points to make for the record. If we could have 13 the slide back on the screen please, showing the real 14 estate in question. That's a nice one. At St. John's CDC 15 we have been in a state of hiatus for a number of years 16 now because the initial development thrust which took 17 place approximately 12 years ago went through a series 18 of financial pressures that until now -- until very 19 recently we were not able to provide the kinds of 20 development and support to this community that we would 21 like to. However, I am glad to say that that is behind us 22 now and with this proposal we are actually looking forward 23 to the future. One of the things that did not happen is I 24 will call your attention to blocks 25 and 36 as have been 25 mentioned before by at least two different speakers. St. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 74 1 John's CDC in fact did have development rights and a 2 development project and development plans for those two 3 blocks, was awarded the properties by the City of Miami. 4 Title was never transferred. When this happened, the 5 property was worth maybe $4 a square foot, maybe $5. 6 Unfortunately, due to the exigence of the development 7 process itself and the fact that one major developer did 8 drop out of the project, the project was never built. 9 Today we have Crosswinds in a very unique situation. St. 10 John's CDC did enter for the record into some legal 11 dispute with the City of Miami over the transfer of that 12 real estate. The end result was the City transferred 13 another piece of property north of this site which was a 14 fraction of the value to even the $4 a square foot that I 15 referred to before. We are proceeding to develop that 16 property now and we believe that it will be a true 17 landmark project and with your help, Commissioner, we'll 18 be able to do that in a short space of time. We have 19 completed the first phase of pre -development and are 20 looking to finance the project now. Now our concern here 21 is that'as of May the 20th, 2004, there's a new day in 22 Overtown, a brand new day. This is not undesirable real 23 estate anymore. Evidenced by Crosswinds, we're looking at 24 a time when black people don't get bought out and kicked 25 out anymore but we are going to be facing a set of Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 75 1 economic restrictions in terms of serving the poor people 2 in the community. It's one thing -- as my first point -- 3 to set aside 50 units out of a thousand and add some 4 wraparound financing at deep discount for poor black 5 people or the working poor to purchase units in this 6 proposed development project. It is an entirely different 7 thing to expect that the community after so much 8 heartache, pain history, riots and anguish should not 9 share in the economic benefits of a development which was 10 bought in the name of that pain and suffering. I feel 11 it's my obligation to be part of a process to make sure 12 that whatever is built, and I will say right now I have 13 great admiration for the development acumen and 14 capabilities and track record of Crosswinds, I'll say that 15 right now. I believe they are legitimate. I believe they 16 can deliver. 17 (End of CD #2.) 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Good morning. You know, like 19 Overtown, good morning. 20 COLLECTIVE: Good morning. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. Thanks so much. As you 22 know, this is the Town Hall meeting. Many of you have 23 been here before for Town Hall meetings. Could I just see 24 real quick the people that have come to an Overtown Town 25 Hall meeting before? Great. We normally have about 100 Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 76 1 people, and because of the size of the building it was 2 kind of hard to figure this out but we figured it as 3 people come in and go. You've always been at every 4 meeting, every meeting, always on time, always here. 5 Everyone is invited to be here and there is absolutely the 6 right of everyone to attend. However, the meeting is done 7 primarily for the benefit of the Overtown residents, 8 property owners, business owners and people that work and 9 live in Overtown to express to me as your District 10 Commissioner and to express to the Overtown Advisory Board 11 an agency that was created by the City of Miami Commission 12 back in 19 what, Irby? 13 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: 182. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: '82, which is representative of 15 the community. In other words, it's elected by you the 16 residents of Overtown and if you do not go to Overtown 17 Advisory Board meetings every month we take this 18 opportunity to urge you to do so because there are a lot 19 of issues that come up from time to time in Overtown that 20 need to be heard and I know there are some people here 21 that want to be heard. You're going to be heard. 22 However, there are a few housekeeping and administrative 23 issues. The voters, the people who live in Overtown under 24 the procedures that we've had over the years have the 25 right to give us a vote in terms of how you feel about Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 77 1 certain issues. We reserve -- what is -- what section, 2 Chelsa, is a for the Overtown voters? This area? So if 3 you are a voter in Overtown, if you are a resident of 4 Overtown, if you live in Overtown, if you own property in 5 Overtown, if you are employed and work in Overtown, if you 6 can have any Overtown connections as our procedures have 7 always provided you should be in this area right here or 8 in this area directly behind it, whatever is convenient. 9 What, Brenda? Oh. Wait, wait. If you live -- if you're 10 right here, it's fine. If you're not a voter or in that 11 category, if you would just move to the other section 12 right over here to my extreme left, your extreme right if 13 you're not an Overtown resident voter or whatever. If 14 you're in this building, you should either be in this 15 section, this section or that section. You should not be 16 in those sections. However, if anyone is a non voter and 17 would like to stay in this area, please do so. However, 18 if you are an Overtown resident Overtown voter, please 19 come to one of these sections down here please. Please. 20 Now, if you are elderly, handicapped, overweight like I 21 am, there are elevators, elevators over here and you can 22 come down by elevator. So what we're trying to do is 23 vacate this entire area and Overtown voters residents, et 24 cetera may sit here in the center on the floor or in this 25 area. Please now we're Optimists. I saw some Optimists Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 brothers back there, some Optimist youth, this is your 2 meeting, brothers. Come on down here. Well, at 10:00 we 3 can go but let them come down now. We're going to have 4 fellowship first. All right. Please, on either side. 5 Could we quickly -- I want to also acknowledge that many 6 of you have been to Town Hall meetings that I have called 7 before and many of you have followed up with our offices 8 and I really want to express my appreciation for you 9 caring about the neighborhood. Some of the people that I 10 recognize here are property owners that have moved away 11 from Overtown many many years ago, but you're keeping your 12 ties in Overtown and we are very grateful for that, for 13 that effort. Miss Slater, how you feeling this morning? 14 All right. Without further. ado, I'm going to call upon 15 one of the deacons of St. John's Primitive Baptist Church 16 to give us a little bit of morning devotion and then we 17 will formally start the meeting. We won't start the 18 meeting until after we've had prayer and is it missionary 19 Baptists or Institutional? 20 DEACON PHILIP BACON: Missionary Baptists. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Missionary. All right, under 22 the leadership of Pastor Nevins, Reverend Nevins, so let's 23 give a warm Overtown welcome to a man who has worked all 24 over Overtown and is keeping the dream alive, Deacon 25 Bacon. Let's give him a hand now. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 79 1 DEACON BACON: Good morning. It's right, I came 2 here 45 years ago and I've been working in Overtown the 3 majority of my life. I retired from Dade County as a 4 county employee, so I have a heart for Overtown. So let 5 us bow our heads. 6 Almighty God, we come before you this morning, Lord, 7 asking for your guidance and your protection. Father, 8 have our minds of one accord that we can accomplish 9 something from this meeting to help the resident of 10 Overtown and keep the dream alive. Please you as in your 11 Holy name we pray, Amen. 12 COLLECTIVE: Amen. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you again. As you know, 14 this meeting has been called to discuss a number of 15 issues. Does everyone have an agenda? Is there anyone 16 that doesn't have an agenda? Brenda, where are the 17 minutes of the previous -- one of the previous meetings, 18 et cetera? Let me take this opportunity -- thank you -- 19 to introduce our guest the senior city official here first 20 and then we will introduce -- ask everyone -- Erica, we're 21 going to ask everyone to introduce themselves, but let me 22 start with the senior city of Miami official that appears 23 to be here now is one of the city constitutional 24 officials, charter officials, one of the officers that was 25 one of the four top people in the city, Priscilla Perry, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 Me 1 the clerk of the City. Priscilla would you just introduce 2 your staff and say anything that you'd like to say? 3 MS. PRISCILLA PERRY: Good morning, ladies and 4 gentlemen. A lot of you who attend the Overtown Advisory 5 Board meeting will see my staff and I at the meetings. 6 This young lady is a resident of Overtown, Terry Thomas. 7 She's one of our premium prime transcribers and we also 8 have with us our assistant City Clerk Miss Sylvia 9 Scheider. We appreciate you coming out this morning and 10 we're working with you. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much. Let's give 12 our City Clerk a (applause). The charter calls for four 13 officers to be appointed the City Manager, the City 14 Attorney, the Auditor General and the City Clerk, so you 15 can see that we are very well represented. Without 16 further ado, let me start on my extreme left and ask the 17 City or the -- and CRA staffs to please either stand, take 18 a microphone -- do y'all have a mic somewhere? Then go to 19 the podium please and each one introduce yourself so 20 everyone knows exactly who's here. Just line up right one 21 behind each other, please. 22 Commander Meeks, why don't you join us on the stage? 23 This is the Overtown residents' chance to throw spit balls 24 at you if they want to. 25 MS. ERICA WRIGHT: Good morning, everyone. My Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 name is Erica Wright. I'm an Assistant City Attorney for 2 the City of Miami. Good morning. 3 ANTRANETTE PIERRE: Antranette Pierre, Executive 4 Assistant to the Director. 5 MS. REBECA LOWE: Good morning. Rebeca Lowe, 6 Contracts and Organizational Liaison for the City CRA. 7 MS. ESPERANZA MARTINEZ: Esperanza Martinez, CRA 8 Agenda Coordinator. 9 MS. CHELSA ARSCOTT: Good morning, Chelsa 10 Arscott, Planning and Administrative Administrator for the 11 Miami CRA. 12 MR. CHUCK DEEB: Chuck Deeb with T.Y. Lynn H.J. 13 Ross. We're engineering consultants to the CRA. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. Mr. Bloom, are you 15 here in a pro bono capacity today or can we assume -- 16 MR. WILLIAM BLOOM: William Bloom, Holland and 17 Knight's special counsel to the CRA and the City of Miami 18 with respect to the Crosswinds matter. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, just so everybody 20 knows, and we'll start right here on the -- 21 MR. JAMES VILLACORTA: James Villacorta, 22 Assistant City Attorney. 23 MR. CHRIS SMITH: Chris Smith, Overtown Net 24 Administrator. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Chris, why don't you take this Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 M. 1 opportunity to introduce all of the City staff that is 2 here that needs to be introduced so if somebody gets 3 missed it's your fault, not mine. 4 MR. SMITH: Well, then I would ask if there are 5 other City staff if you'll please stand or signal at this 6 time. Want to introduce yourself? 7 MR. JORGE CANO: Good morning. My name is Jorge 8 Cano. I'm Deputy Director of the Department of Capitol 9 Improvements of the City of Miami. 10 MR. DAVID ROTHMAN: Good morning. My name is 11 David Rothman, Chief of Staff to the City Manager. 12 MR. BOBBY MEEKS: Good morning, Bobby Meeks, City 13 of Miami Police Department, Commander Overtown Windwood. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let's give Commander Meeks and 15 all of the City staff a real hand because like all of us, 16 they could be somewhere else. They took time from their 17 schedules and their families to be able to join you. 18 MS. BEATRICE GILBERT: I'm sorry but we'd like to 19 say something real quick because we had other events 20 scheduled for today. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Just one minute. 22 MS. GILBERT: It will be real quick. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Just one minute, and we'll do 24 one thing. Let me now present the elected representative 25 of the Overtown community who serves in the capacity as Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 MIR 1 the Chairman of the Overtown Advisory Board, Mr. Irby 2 McKnight. 3 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Good morning. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And Irby, please acknowledge the 5 OAB members that you -- 6 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Would all the Overtown 7 Advisory Board members please stand. Thank y'all for 8 coming. Are there any members of the Neighborhood 9 Assembly Board here? Thank you. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. There are several 11 people who have asked to be acknowledged early on and 12 we'll yield to you. Thank you for being here. You are an 13 Overtown resident and -- 14 MS. GILBERT: Yes, I am. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. Just give us your name 16 and address, and when people come up to the mic and speak 17 please give us the benefit of giving your name and address 18 so that the clerk can get the information correct. 19 MS. GILBERT: My name is Beatrice Gilbert. My 20 address is 275 Northwest loth Street. I just wanted to 21 state that participating in this meeting is encouraging 22 the marginalizing of Overtown residents. This meeting was 23 not announced or truly encouraged participation. For one, 24 people barely got 48 hours notice, and most people 25 don't even get the newspaper, which means they got 24-hour Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 M 1 notice. And that was only a select few; not all Overtown 2 residents got notice of this, and I'm pretty sure that 3 most people here had other scheduled arrangements for 4 today, like me. That's why I have to go, but I would like 5 to -- well, I'm not going to -- I don't even think people 6 should vote today because it's not fair. All the people 7 here, I'm pretty sure a lot of them have been talked to 8 already about what they're going to get if they vote a 9 certain way, but number one, not everyone can vote. We 10 have people there, you know, who are staying in subsidized 11 housing or whatever whatever and they can't vote like 12 that.. Number two, not properly informed of the matters to 13 be discussed to be voted on. I called to find out what 14 was going on. People didn't even know what I was -- they 15 knew what I was talking about, they couldn't give me the 16 answers I wanted. And then 9:00 a.m. with no end time is 17 not acceptable, okay. We want to know how long -- how 18 late we gonna stay in here and nothing and nothing plus 19 nothing was posted in the community. How you supposed to 20 get the community involved when nothing was posted in the 21 community? How can we move together as a community when 22 the entire community was not properly informed and brought 23 together in the first place, and to my Overtown residents 24 I know y'all ain't gonna let, you know, people use our tax 25 monies like this, so you could -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 RV 1 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: They been using it 2 for 30 years. 3 MS. GILBERT: Well, we got to do something about 4 that. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Ma'am, ma'am. 6 MS. GILBERT: We got to do something about is 7 that they want to put us together to keep this -- 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Ma'am, you're free speak. You 9 have a two -minute limit, but make your comments to the -- 10 MS. GILBERT: Oh, it's about to end right now, 11 right now, and I know my people are better than this. I 12 know for a fact a lot of other people would have been here 13 if they were informed of earlier, you know, like I heard 14 somebody was -- had to decide on going to a funeral and 15 being here. Imagine having to decide against -- to decide 16 which one they should go to. So that's all -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much. 18 MS. GILBERT: -- I can say. Thank you. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you four your comments. 20 We're going to move right on and -- 21 MS. GILBERT: Reschedule. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am. We'll take that 23 under advisement. We're going to get an update now from 24 the Overtown Net Office and issues by the Overtown Net 25 Administrator, Mr. Smith. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 MR. CHRIS SMITH: Thank you, Commissioner. Good 2 morning, everyone, and these remarks -- I'll be brief, but 3 I want to get right to it. There's several areas I want 4 to make sure that I cover. As you know, the Net Office is 5 here to serve as in a capacity as a liaison between City 6 government and the residents as well as to provide access 7 to City services. Now, having said that, some of the 8 issues that that need to be looked at as we move forward, 9 one obviously is the issue of crime in our neighborhood 10 and we need to look to support and strengthen the existing 11 efforts particularly around drug activities in the 12 community. That's an area where I know there's been a lot 13 of community voices raised about that issue and it's for 14 good reason, and so I want to first of all commend the 15 commander for his work around Operation Difference and 16 their efforts in recent weeks and months, but we need to 17 strengthen that and we need to do more and I want to look 18 to the community and ask for your help as we continue to 19 fight the crime and the drug issue. Secondly, another 20 issue that continues to be on our radar screen is around 21 the homeless and the concerns about the chronic homeless. 22 There's a effort underway to try to stem the tide of 23 homelessness in our area, but we need to continue to be 24 vigilant and please feel free to contact my office or 25 myself if you see things that you believe shouldn't be Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 7*-N 1 there in our areas. We're out at least twice a week now 2 addressing this homeless issue, but there needs to be more 3 done. There needs to be more done. We need to make sure 4 that we are not -- we are not allowing illegal street 5 feedings in our neighborhood, that we understand that 6 these things are not to our benefit, okay. Thirdly, doing 7 more in terms of animating and having events in the 8 neighborhood. Overtown come alive June loth Black History 9 Month. I know the Overtown Optimists has a large program 10 in the public parks. Ideas and activities in our parks 11 and in our public spaces help us as a neighborhood improve 12 our area, and so if you have ideas and there are 13 activities you'd like to do, I'd like to work with you and 14 I'd like to say to you that those ideas are going to be 15 heard as we move forward. Strengthening our code 16 enforcement activities. This is an area around the trash 17 dumping, illegal trash dumping, overgrown lots, things 18 that of that nature. We need to be vigilant and be aware 19 of these activities and again work with the Net Office and 20 work with other City departments to help stem the tide of 21 that. There's way too much trash. It's just not 22 acceptable. So we can do more and we will do more in that 23 area. This should have been number one in my 24 comments but it wasn't but it's around the issue of jobs 25 and linking residents and linking particularly our youth Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 to jobs in our neighborhood and linking them to jobs 2 outside our neighborhood and providing assistance needed, 3 whether that be around transportation or that be around 4 access to resources and people that can help support 5 providing our residents with gainful employment. There 6 are some wonderful activities, Commissioner, around 7 historic preservation. The Dorsey Library is one facility 8 that I know is being contemplated as well as the black 9 policemen precinct, which I know there'll be a 10 presentation later on. The library -- the Lyric Theatre 11 expansion is under way, one of the jewels of our 12 community, and you have other areas including the Clyde 13 Killens residence that should be looked at to be 14 maintained in our area. Lastly is around the issue of 15 education and our schools, and our feeder pattern for our 16 residents needs to be improved and strengthened. There 17 are after school programs, there are activities that 18 occur. We need as a community to look to involve 19 ourselves in our schools and do more and -- and seek more 20 from our institutions of learning to improve the status of 21 our educational system. Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. 22 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Anyone can make a comment, but 24 we would ask just please so that everyone can hear and 25 that there can be a correct record of what's being said to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 :• 1 please -- and if necessary if you would just raise your 2 hand, we'll even ask somebody to bring the mic to you if 3 you -- 4 MS. LAVERNE WILKERSON: Good morning. My name is 5 Laverne Wilkinson. My address is 540 Northwest 7th Street 6 apartment 5 Miami, Florida. On the Net program, you said 7 that you have set our services of crime support. What 8 type of crime are you indicating under a set of money? 9 First of all, where do you suppose to get your money for 10 your homeless, your events of parks, to strengthen your 11 code? How do you pay your people who's who under your 12 education? Who are your supporters of money with the drug 13 program under racketeering? Is there not a program of 14 payroll to strengthen crime settlement? Where do you get 15 your money from? 16 MR. SMITH: Well, we work with the City of Miami 17 and our -- our efforts and our resources are from -- 18 primarily through the City of Miami. There are a number 19 of departments that would address each area, so let's take 20 crime. Well, the commander sitting behind me works in the 21 police department. 22 MS. WILKERSON: Well, where does he get his 23 budget? Where does his money come from? Is this tax -- 24 MR. SMITH: Well, it would come from the police 25 department. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 M. 1 MS. WILKERSON: Well, police department is -- 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, if I may, just to clarify, 3 the money comes from you and every other tax payer. 4 MR. WILKERSON: Okay, a tax payer. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: These dollars are what are 6 called general fund dollars, and every year in September 7 under the Florida Constitution, we have two public 8 hearings with the public at City Hall. The County does 9 the same, and every city and municipality is required to 10 do the same thing and we allocate dollars by department 11 and let me just put it -- you don't work with the City, 12 you are the City. 13 MS. WILKERSON: So this is a -- 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So this is a City 15 departmenthead. 16 MS. WILKERSON: So you're basically a beg 17 program; you're begging for money, you're begging for tax 18 payers. You say homeless here. Where are their tax 19 payers if they're not settlers? If you are high in crime, 20 where your tax payer paying money you're not apt right now 21 so I would suggest that City of Miami give some type of 22 referendum of the type of programs that the department 23 puts out for types of money fund budget because right now 24 you're telling me City of Miami and City of Miami is part 25 of Dade County, Dade County's part of State of Florida, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 91 1 State of Florida is Federal government. Now, where is 2 your money coming from? You're not sure right now. Okay, 3 I thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much. All 5 right, Commander Meeks, did you want to make any comments? 6 And I really think that one of the things that Commander 7 Meeks has done is really shown a commitment. Are there 8 any questions of the police department, Commander Meeks? 9 This is a good opportunity. Commander Meeks. Do we have 10 a hand-held mic? 11 COMMANDER MEEKS: Good morning. 12 COLLECTIVE: Good morning. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Good morning. 14 COMMANDER MEEKS: As I stated before, I'm the 15 Commander of the Overtown Windwood area. I know in this 16 particular area here in Overtown we have an extreme 17 terrible problem with drugs. We try to combat it the best 18 that we can and I know a lot of complaints are -- from the 19 community is going to be about drugs. This year the chief 20 came up with an initiative Operation Difference and during 21 that operation what the police department do is go to 22 different Net areas, different districts, the North 23 Central and south districts and deploy something like 100 24 police officers to do quality of life operations and to 25 try to factor drugs in that area, particular area, and the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 M 1 objective of this operation is to make the City of Miami a 2 city -- a drug -free city, and this is done -- I think it 3 comes into the central district at least once every other 4 month, but during the times when we are not doing that 5 operation we still have the police officers that staff 6 this particular area out in the field and we also have a 7 PST team. Most of the time when the people call with the 8 complaints and stuff like that, I try to send the problem 9 solving team into that particular area to see if we could 10 solve the problems that are happening, but what happened 11 they go into the area, they stay there for a period of 12 time. Once they see the presence of the police officers, 13 then it tend to eliminate for a while. Once the police 14 officers move out, then they come back. So it's like a 15 revolving door. At this time I'll take questions. 16 MR. DARRICK RUDOLPH: My name is Darrick Rudolph. 17 I reside at 225 Northwest 22nd Street, and it's not pretty 18 much of a question, it's pretty much under that there's 19 many problems and there are many ways of attacking those 20 problems and Mr. Chris just speaking about jobs and stuff 21 like that. If you can, Mr. Commander, you can do the 22 operation Make a Difference but you got to understand that 23 it's like recruitment; you take some out, there's some 24 ready to get back in. So you could lock up many, but if 25 you don't have nothing pertaining to education and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 teaching them how to get jobs you going to continue having 2 that problem, so I'm asking Mr. Chris -- we understand 3 also that it's a lot of (unintelligible) because I am also 4 a member of Local 272 Iron Workers and from my local I 5 understand it's a lot of work coming and me and Irby 6 McKnight, we even know (unintelligible) got a call at one 7 time pertaining to try and help some of the Overtown 8 residents get some of those jobs that was going on 9 pertaining to some of the building on 20th Street and we 10 had issues, so I say this here; how do you go about 11 reeducating the mindsets of the people in each town 12 pertaining to they self love to be able to begin 13 rebuilding the mindset of themselves and part of them 14 being part of the Overtown Optimists Club and being part 15 of other -- you know what I'm saying, organization that's 16 inside there. We know that we do a lot for the youth, but 17 we now recognize that there is a problem pertaining to 18 reeducating the parents. We understand they doing a lot 19 of things might be wrong considered in a lot of people 20 eyes but if you go -- you know what I'm saying, trying to 21 help, we got to learn how to forgive and forget and try to 22 deal with the problem and come up with a solution, and I 23 think that if you continue to assist Mr. Washington and 24 other members that's dealing with the people that is in 25 Overtown that is doing something positive for their Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 al! 1 people, you come let us see you more. Come communicate 2 more and stop making judgement or being prejudice before 3 the fact and I think more things could be done than we 4 really could imagine. That's all. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE TOKEN5: All right, let's move 6 right along with are there any other comments directed at 7 Commander Meeks, please? 8 MS. PATRICIA PRESTON: Yes, sir. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on. Yes, ma'am. 10 MS. PRESTON: Hi, I'm Patricia Preston 352 11 Northwest llth Street apartment 11 Booker T. Washington 12 Senior High School Planetarium Technician and Overtown 13 Youth Center tutor, so I've lived over here maybe a year 14 or so and I've grown to love it. I'm SOS, straight out of 15 Scott, and I saw that tore down and I say you know, I want 16 to take a active part in this here because this is my 17 residence now and I see the drug -- you know, I don't know 18 what the police don't see. I can stand on the corner five 19 minutes, I know who got the drugs, where they put the 20 drugs, where they stash the drugs, and I don't understand 21 it how kids pick them up and yet the police will sit right 22 there talk oh, well, we got to make sure we send in an 23 undercover to do this but just any human could stand there 24 five minutes and see who got the drugs, where they stash 25 the drugs, who's holding the money. But yet a trained Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 95 1 officer of the law can't see this? You know what I'm 2 saying? I don't understand it. It could be cleaned up 3 but if it was in the Grove, Coral Gables, Pine Crest, it 4 would be done. So the point that it can't be, it can be 5 done to clean up Overtown. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you for your -- 7 MS. PRESTON: Or over downtown. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, sir. 9 MR. ANTHONY CUTLER: Thank you, Commissioner 10 Teele. My name is Anthony Cutler. I was -- I was born 11 and raised in Overtown. We have moved from Overtown to 12 Scott and from Scott to North Miami and in other words, 13 you know, I go to any meetings that concern African 14 Americans because I see what the problem is and I try to 15 be a -- a factor to those problems. I be trying to give a 16 solution to the problems that African Americans face and 17 even with the drug situation, can't no one particular 18 person or even one organization actually do it. It has to 19 be the residents. This is our community. We the ones who 20 allow our community to do -- or the shape it's in, even 21 mindsets, and see this way where our leaders come in at 22 when you look at these stress areas, you should understand 23 that the mindsets in these communities has to be changed. 24 It's no way you can say you going to solve a problem and 25 you don't start with their -- that mindset. That's the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 first example. Now, I submitted a lot of proposals -- 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. Cutler, Mr. Cutler. 3 MR. CUTLER: Yes sir. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Now, it's early but we got a 5 long agenda. We're going to limit everybody to 30 seconds 6 to ask a question. At the end of this we'll allow 7 everybody to give a speech. 8 MR. CUTLER: Okay. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But see, what's going to happen 10 is everybody going to come give their speech and walk 11 outdoor and then we are all going to be standing around 12 waiting to get to the business so I'm asking you know 13 there's a lot of people here that have important 14 information and to get out and then let's have a round 15 table discussion later on but I'm asking you respectfully 16 for your indulgence and for that of everyone that's going 17 to come to the Mike if you have a command err to Commander 18 Meeks or any other question, please limit your question to 19 about 15 seconds after question, please. And then. 20 MR. CUTLER: What? Okay. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And then we'll allow everybody 22 to come up and say anything, anything you want. The 23 agenda calls for everybody to come up and discuss anything 24 you want to say, but you got to respect everybody else's 25 time and commitment, please. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 97 1 MR. CUTLER: Yes. Yes, sir. I do. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And I apologize. 3 MR. CUTLER: That's okay. I apologize for -- 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Did you have a question for -- 5 to Commander Meeks? 6 MR. CUTLER: Yeah. Well, not actually a question 7 but a solution because maybe I should get with Commander 8 Meeks and you know, show him the solution that I have to 9 offer, you know, so -- 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: With your permission, why don't 11 you come up right now and meet with him on the dais and 12 y'all talk as long as y'all want to and let us know at the 13 end of the meeting what you all have agreed on. 14 MR. CUTLER: Will do. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Are there any other questions of 16 Commander Meeks? Yes. 17 MS. MARY JEAN: My name is Mary Jean. I am a 18 eight month resident of Overtown. I live at 275 Northwest 19 10th Street apartment 106. I just was reiterating what my 20 friends had said. I too -- because when I called 21 yesterday, I saw that notice in the newspaper and I called 22 and I wanted to know and I was told it was mailed out to 23 everybody. When I got home at 5:00 p.m., 5:30 the mail 24 carrier came by, that's when I got the notice in the mail. 25 So I don't think that's adequate notice for people because Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 I'm looking across at this cross section of this -- of the 2 audience and I don't think this is a true representation 3 of the -- 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 5 MS. JEAN: Overtown population. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much for your 7 comment. 8 MS. JEAN: And honestly, this meeting is 9 concerning those people; us that lives here, and I think 10 therefore that those people that live here should be here. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 12 MS. JEAN: Because this affects our daily lives 13 because those people that live here should be here. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 15 MS. JEAN: Because this affects our lay daily 16 lives because honest -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Ma'am, as I said to the previous 18 speaker, if you have a question you can do that. You've 19 reiterated the point and we take that under advisement. 20 MS. JEAN: And my thing is that you guys are 21 making decisions but you don't live here. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much. 23 MS. JEAN: Thank you. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. 25 MR. WILLIAM CALHOUN: Good morning. My name is Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Will Calhoun and I'm calling in reference to the properties at 100 Northwest llth Terrace. My mailing address is P.O. Box 1510092 Miami, 33150. I would like this is addressed to the Net officer. I would request that you would publicize the procedure for reporting illegal dumping. You have -- I've asked our attendants to report illegal dumpings and some of them get such a runaround in the way that they get answered. You call Code, Code send you to Net. Net sends you to solid waste and solid waste back to Net and then you are told that it takes three days for a Code Enforcement officer to come out. Illegal dumping is dumped on the minute and if you don't have someone to deal with that then the trash is left on the street. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much, and your point is very well taken and I think if you follow the meetings you know my concern. I think the City has made a tremendous mistake with the separation of Code Enforcement from Net. All over the City, particularly in Model Cities we're hearing the same complaint of homeowners and people who are getting the runaround by calling Code Enforcement and Net. It's a -- we're going to look into it, but we will publish that. Ma'am, T Metro -- well, T Metro is Miami Dade County and but -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 100 CHAIRMAN TEELE: The address that he gave is at where? CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: 100 Northwest llth Terrace, City of Miami. CHAIRMAN TEELE: He gave a City of Miami address? Okay, and if it's in the City and Overtown, then it's right, and he knows the City. This guy was a cop for 50 years, so -- all right. Well, a long time. All right, let's -- let's move on. There are a number of young ladies and gentlemen -- let me just say this about the notice just on the record. The notice was done as we've always done. First a notice was done two weeks ago in the Miami Times. The notice was also done in the Miami Herald. The notice was done at the commission meeting where we made the notice. The notice was done at the last meeting, which was held three weeks ago that we would be holding this meeting. The notice by mail that went out was late. The notice that went out by mail was late, and that is ultimately my fault and I have to assume responsibility for that. But again, the purpose of these meetings is to hear from the Overtown residents and those people and we want to take this opportunity to recognize two special people; first, there's a lady whose family hosted presidents, judges, Thurgood Marshall, dancers, entertainers. They built one of the first and most Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 101 1 important hotels in the south. The hotel we all know as 2 the Mary Elizabeth Hotel, and her family went on to 3 produce the first female state representative in the State 4 of Florida that's black and I'm talking now about a lady 5 who is a few years young but Bernie Sawyer, who's over the 6 very end, let's give Miss Sawyer, the wife of Bill Sawyer, 7 a long long long time owed and in fact Miss Sawyer donated 8 the land -- the Sawyer family donated the land which is 9 right next to the Lyric Theatre so that the Lyric Theatre 10 could have parking and donated lands all over this city 11 just like the D.A. Dorsey family has done and we can never 12 acknowledge what Bill and Bernie Sawyer and their father 13 Dr. William Sawyer did. In fact, Dr. Sawyer was really 14 the person who came up with the idea of creating Jackson 15 Hospital, but that's another story of how our history has 16 always (unintelligible). The other person is a person who 17 if you live in Overtown, especially on the west side of 18 95 you know him. You probably have eaten his food. He 19 comes to these meeting and he's the guy that most of us 20 just sort of take for granted, but he's the gardener, Mr. 21 Murray. Brother Murray, stand up. The Overtown gardener. 22 He got the (unintelligible) in town, so for those of you 23 from the Allens, you know Mr. Murray. 24 We have Town Park residents that have some serious 25 issues that they want to put on the table. Miss Jackson, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 102 Miss Copeland, where you all? Are they here? Is there any representative of Town Park North? If not, we'll go straight to Town Park Village. We're going to hear from the president of Lyric Jones and as you know, Town Park is one of these -- hold on one minute. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Let her go if she'd like to, Commissioner. She could go. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Come right on if you'd like to. Town Park is one of these unique residential centers in Miami, there's only one or two of them like it. Back in the seventies, there was this thought of building homes and everybody was told they'd own their home and it wound up being something called a co-op, which are very common in New York, but Town Park has gone through a lot of different variations and we've always let the Town Park residents to have their say if there are some matters that need to come before us. Thank you for being here. MS. MARIE WIMMS: Thank you. Good morning. My name is Marie Wimms and I live at 1780 Northwest 5th Avenue apartment M in Town Park Plaza South. So as I got my notice yesterday afternoon at 5:00, I read it and Town Park Village was on it being recognized, town Park North was on it being recognized but Town Park Plaza South is in the middle of that and they wasn't recognized. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let me clarify what you got. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 103 MS. WIMMS: Please. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Those people wrote my office, wrote the Overtown Net and asked to be heard and to make a presentation, and if your association ever wants to be heard at the Overtown Advisory Board or in a Town Hall meeting, all they have to do is ask to be recognized. MS. WIMMS: Okay. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. MS. WIMMS: I thank you, and so -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very -- MS. WIMMS: That's my question. CHAIRMAN TEELE: But you are welcome to be here, and the problems of each of the Town Parks are unique because these are co-ops; one, Town Park North, has gone to the condo conversion. MS. WIMMS: Yes, I know. CHAIRMAN TEELE: That's been completed and there's a whole lot of issues that we're hearing from there that those residents want to have some help or some support on, and we're going to hear right now from Town Park Village. MS. WIMMS: And Town Park South do needs help and we would -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, let the association -- let the association have a meeting, you all pass a resolution Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 104 1 of what kind of help you want and get it to my office and 2 we'll work with you. 3 MS. WIMMS: Thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Town Park North, Town Park 5 Village just held a board meeting couple of months ago and 6 the City at my request has earmarked $200,000 to help them 7 with some emergency repairs, and so we're going to hear 8 from Mr. Jones, the president of Town Park Village, and I 9 want to compliment Mr. Jones. You're the president of the 10 association? 11 MR. LEONARD JONES: Yep. 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You're elected by the members of 13 the association? 14 MR. JONES: Yes, sir. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And you have one of your board 16 members here who -- 17 MR. JONES: Yeah, my vice president. 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes. 19 MR. JONES: And it's Lillian Slater. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, so go right ahead, 21 sir. 22 MR. JONES: We had scheduled a meeting with the 23 City of Miami in March and we was glad that the City of 24 Miami was glad to hear from us because we been struggling 25 for years, even before I got over there, and I been there Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 105 1 17 years and the people before me, they been struggling 2 longer than me. So therefore, you know, we was glad that 3 the City had heard our case and rewarded us that type of 4 money to help us out. Maybe one day we could be better 5 than Town Park North as homeowners and don't go through 6 the problem what they going through as homeowners. Thank 7 you. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. 9 MS. LILLIAN SLATER: To the Mayor, the 10 Commissioner and to Commissioner Teele especially, we 11 thank you for your help. When we went to you, you said to 12 us -- 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We need your name and address 14 for the record. 15 MS. SLATER: Oh, Lillian Slater. 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Especially if you're going to 17 say something nice, I want everybody to know who said it. 18 MS. SLATER: Oh, 16 -- oh, Lillian -- okay, 19 Lillian Slater 1640 Northwest 4th Avenue. I've been in 20 Town Park over 20 some years and this is where I want to 21 live from ndw on, so I stated about the Commissioner, the 22 Mayor and especially to Commissioner Teele, when we went 23 to you and asked for help you said to us yes, we will help 24 you but we have to go before all the Commissioners. So I 25 thank you, thank God that this is what happened. We went Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 191110 1 to you and you did your best and we thank you for 2 everything, and some day we hope we can reward all the 3 Commissioners one day to give us a free -- a place to 4 stay, thank God, and I just hope that everything goes well 5 and we going to continue to work with the Commissioner and 6 Commissioner Teele I want you to be right there to see 7 that everything goes well and carries through. Thank you. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much. Thank you 9 very much. As you may know, the -- one of the problems, 10 for example, is that the gas bill for the -- for the Town 11 Park, that particular unit went from -- what -- how much 12 was your gas bill, natural gas bill? 13 MS. SLATER: It was over $6,000. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But it went from like $1,200 to 15 $7,000 in a matter of four months, so obviously when you 16 have an association like that you don't have those kind of 17 reserves. The price of natural gas just shot up on them, 18 so we're working with them and we are providing an 19 emergency grant to them of $200,000 to try to stabilize 20 the repairs that are necessary to keep everything current. 21 Okay, we'd like to move right into the -- the issues 22 that we have before you for discussion and for your input. 23 If I may, Mr. McKnight and to the public, the next group 24 of items is scheduled to be the community development 25 organizations and corporations. I would like to go Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 107 1 straight to the old colored precinct because I see a 2 number of the people are here. That item is scheduled for 3 a referendum vote. Madam clerk, would you get somebody 4 from Brenda or office here so I know exactly how this is 5 going to be handled and let me just give you as the 6 retired police officers association gets their thinking 7 ready at the last, at the last vote meeting that we had, 8 referendum vote meeting, we had seven items on the ballot. 9 The first one that we voted on, just to refresh your 10 memory, was to allow the St. Frances Catholic Church to 11 use a portion of the Williams Park for their school and it 12 was requested that -- the Overtown community requested 13 that the St. Frances Church take responsibility for the 14 Williams Park maintenance, et cetera, and it was very 15 controversial because as a result of this meeting the 16 church increased the number of scholarships that they were 17 giving to Overtown residents. That's St. Frances Catholic 18 Church Xavier, and they increased the number of 19 scholarships to 40 percent of all of their scholarships 20 had to go to children in Overtown, and I want to commend 21 those community leaders who called the Catholic church and 22 it's hard for me to hold a priest accountable but I know 23 y'all don't have any problem holding anybody accountable 24 and that referendum passed by 60 percent of the votes, 25 passed. The next item was 69 percent of the votes cast. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 The next item was the approval of the CRA program, which 2 passed with 91 percent of the votes cast. The next item 3 related to Booker T. Washington; Booker T. Washington High 4 School utilizing a portion of Gibson Park, and that item 5 passed overwhelmingly. The two items of allowing the 6 Overtown Optimists and approving the site for the Overtown 7 youth center passed with about 96 percent of the vote for 8 the Optimists and for the youth center and then the street 9 designation designating streets for Tornado Way in honor 10 of -- well, if you don't know who Tornado Way is, maybe 11 you're in the wrong meeting. Gwen Sawyer -- well, Tornado 12 Way is the designation of Booker T. for those of you who 13 may be guests here and a street designating in honor of 14 Gwen Cherry who we said was the sister of Bill Sawyer, the 15 daughter of the late Dr. Sawyer, (unintelligible) 16 Commissioner Shaw and Clyde Killens, and so those items 17 were also passed with overwhelming votes and those are the 18 kinds of issues. 19 Today the first referendum item in the three revenue 20 -- the seven referendum items will be the restoration of 21 the Overtown colored police precinct, the next will be the 22 Lyric Theatre, the next will be related to the Clyde 23 Killens Plaza, the next one is involving the creation of a 24 multi -million dollar trust fund for the benefit of 25 Overtown residents funded from Crosswinds or any other Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 109 development project built on Overtown land, our land in Overtown. The next one is the approval of the chair of the Overtown Advisory Board and the District 5 Commission as spokespersons for Overtown. The next is approval of the actual demand for parking for the International Longshoremen's Union and Lyric Theatre as a condition of any development that takes place in Overtown and the last one is the approval of the CRA plan which will be presented to you. So the first item is the colored police precinct, and I'm going to yield to -- who am I yielding to? Who's going to take the -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Well, what -- no, no. Why don't you get on the mic and tell us exactly how you're going to do -- and identify yourself and if you haven't been arrested by this man -- MR. CLARENCE DICKSON: Hi. My name is Clarence Dickson and the address I'm giving is 6102 Northwest 7th Avenue. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And for the benefit of the public, Clarence Dickson, who's very modest, was the first African American police chief in the City of Miami and we owe him a debt of gratitude for opening the door very wide. You probably remember him with his cowboy hat, and we're very proud of -- and Chief, would you ask all of the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 110 1 former police officers and current that are here to stand 2 before you? 3 MR. DICKSON: Absolutely. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Turn it over. 5 MR. DICKSON: Would you guys please stand? 6 Officer Bud Hill and also our current active vice 7 president, would you please stand? (Unintelligible) from 8 the MCPBA, the Miami Police Benevolent Association. 9 That's the black police organization that's in the City of 10 Miami right now, and we -- 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: She's out of her jurisdiction. 12 She works Model Cities. 13 MR. DICKSON: Yes. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: She's a Model Cities NRO, folks, 15 so let's give them all a good Overtown welcome. Make them 16 feel warm. 17 MR. DICKSON: (Unintelligible) Marshall William 18 Jackson, Brother Calhoun, and standing to my left here is 19 brother Otis Davis. He's the president of Cumapaba (sic), 20 past president of the MCPBA and a retired police 21 lieutenant, so I've given the address already but Mr. 22 Commissioner, we're here and to the panel we're here to 23 just introduce for the first time the story of the old 24 black precinct, and I will make this very short because I 25 want Otis Davis to say a few words and to also acquaint Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 111 1 himself with you, but the old precinct sits on llth Street 2 Northwest 5th Avenue. Right now it's an old building that 3 probably everyone in here has seen it and passed by and 4 say what's that old building sitting there; you know, what 5 was it? Was it a post office? Was it a warehouse or what 6 was that old building? Well, that old building was home 7 to the first black police officers to serve this 8 community, and there is a lot of history in that old 9 building and there is a -- that old building at one time 10 had up to 84 black police officers serving out of there 11 because we could not go to the main white station. 12 It was segregated and that building was built in 1950 for 13 the black police officers to -- when they come on duty, 14 that's where they would go. They would not go to the main 15 station. It was segregated. You could not go there. We 16 served the black community out of that building and 17 there's a lot of history in that building and so we went 18 before the Commissioner, the City Commission and we asked 19 the City Commission to preserve and save that building and 20 allow us, the retired old guys, black police officers who 21 served this community for up to 25, 30 years to preserve 22 that buildinq. The Commissioner Teele became our 23 champion. He championed us on this to save that building 24 for the Overtown community because that building provide a 25 snapshot of your history, of Overtown's history. And so Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 112 1 at the present time we are starting to build and construct 2 and restore, and the black police officers organization 3 that I'm talking about went out and got $300,000 from the 4 State to begin to reconstruction to construct that 5 building, and this City -- as I said, our champion is 6 Commissioner Teele. He came in and organized the process 7 that we're in now where the City is also assisting us and 8 we're going to restore that building and make that a place 9 where our kids will be able to be; to go in there and know 10 about the history, and you will be able to go in there and 11 know about the history of the days of segregation. This 12 building was built in 1950 and it served us up until the 13 department integrated where blacks could work -- blacks 14 worked with whites. We began to integrate, but before 15 that there was strict segregation and we worked very well 16 out of that building. That building served a purpose and 17 provide a base by which your black police officers served 18 the Overtown community, and it's stood there since; from 19 1950 to 1963. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Chief, one thing; you know, I 21 know you're a cop and you think -- but I'm a lawyer. It 22 was also more than a police station. 23 MR. DICKSON: Yes, thank you. Thank you very 24 much, Commissioner Teele. It was also more than a police 25 station. It was a courthouse, the courthouse is on top, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 113 1 the police station was at the bottom. The three jail 2 cells in there one -- one for men, one for women -- two, 3 rather, and at the present time we are converting those 4 jail cells into a -- they're going to stay there but it's 5 going to be a classroom and I'll let Otis Davis tell you 6 about the tutoring that's going to be set up in there but 7 I just want to tell you -- let you know that you can take 8 pride in this historic building. We're going to make it a 9 beautiful place. You're going to see some remnants over 10 there in a few minutes, so that what we're asking is for 11 you to focus your attention on the progress of this 12 building because there will be things happening in there 13 that's going to include everybody, all of you, and it's 14 also -- it's going to be provided for a -- for the people 15 who live in Overtown a place where you can have your 16 meetings and your banquets or whatever it is that you're 17 going to be, you know, want to do. So as I close this out 18 now for Otis Davis to continue, I want to thank you very 19 much for the participation. I want to thank Commissioner 20 Teele for his support, and this is Otis Davis; as I said, 21 retired lieutenant from the Miami Police Department. He's 22 the present president of the Cumapaba (sic). That's what 23 we call our organization, and he's the past president of 24 the MCPBA, which is the black police officers organization 25 of the City of Miami. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 114 1 MR. OTIS DAVIS: Thank you. We are also going to 2 have a tutoring there for our schools in there. We are 3 still for schools in that area, and those schools are D 4 and F schools, so we are a tutoring service for them. I'd 5 like to also tell you that construction will start 6 somewhere around August/September. We are also going to 7 be monitoring to make sure that the resident in that area 8 get jobs. The construction company will hire people who 9 live in that area. I'd be remiss if I didn't call another 10 lady to the podium, and that's Erica Wright. She's with 11 the City Attorney Office and she's worked diligently with 12 us in order to make sure that we stay on track and do the 13 legal kinds of thing, so at this time I'd like for Miss 14 Erica Wright to say a few words, then following her will 15 be Mr. Cano, who will give you an update as to where we 16 are with the project and those kinds of things; what it's 17 going to cost. 18 MS. WRIGHT: Again, my name is Erica Wright. I 19 am an Assistant City Attorney. The staff of the City of 20 Miami, along with the City Attorney Office has been 21 meeting regularly with (unintelligible) to work on the 22 effort of restoring the colored police precinct. There's 23 nothing more I can tell you about the history. I think 24 Clarence Dickson and Otis Davis has told you a lot. I 25 think now that Jorge Cano, the Assistant Director of Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 115 1 Capitol Improvement Projects should come forward now to 2 talk about what are the efforts that the City has been 3 doing to restore the police precinct and courthouse. 4 Jorge. 5 MR. CANO: Thank you and good morning. Once 6 again, my name is Jorge Cano, Deputy Director of Capitol 7 Improvements at the City of Miami, and I have to admit 8 that it's been my distinct pleasure in the 15 months since 9 I joined the City to have been associated with Chief 10 Dickson, Officer Davis and the other members of the City 11 of Miami Police Retired Officers Community Development 12 Association because it is because of their dream and their 13 vision with the support of Commissioner Teele and the City 14 administration that this dream is about to become a 15 reality. I wanted to give you a brief update on the 16 status of the cost, the funding sources and the schedule, 17 and as Chief Dickson mentioned we've got on the easels 18 here architectural renderings, elevations, plan views of 19 how the police precinct will look like once it's restored 20 to its former glory. Starting project costs, this is a 21 $1.7 million project and -- 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: V all have a -- should have a 23 sheet of paper. If you don't, raise your hands and 24 somebody get it and turn to the back of the document that 25 you were passed out. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 116 MR. CANO: The handout looks like this, and I think it's currently being passed out. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Brenda and Miss Slater and I hope -- all right, we'll get you some more. You got some more, Brenda? Here's some. Go right ahead. MR. CANO: Thank you. Construction costs are estimated at approximately a million and five. Total project costs are going to be about a million seven. I'd like to go over the funding sources because a project this magnitude and importance has received support from a number of sources. Starting with the Historic Preservation funds of the Homeland Defense Safe Neighborhood Bond that everyone voted on a couple of years ago with a million, this was followed by Commissioner Teele's Quality of Life funds contribution of $377,000. The $300,000 from the State of Florida Bureau of Historical Preservation grant that was secured by the police officers, and I have to say that this is the most critical of all grant funding sources because without this the project couldn't have gotten started, and thanks to Chief Davis and the rest of the officers who went to Tallahassee and lobbied hard, they were able to secure I think a top three ranking as far as Historical Preservation Project funding from the State, so that was a high recognition of the importance of making this project Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 117 come to fruition, and lastly from the City of Miami Community Development Block grant funds, the project received $168,000. As far as the schedule, the construction bids have been advertised since May 7th. We expect to open the bids on June 22nd. At that point we are going through all the bids very carefully to make sure that all of the responding contractors are qualified and are responsive in every sense of the word as far as the contract. We'll review the contracts and route it for approval and we estimate that the award of the contract will be in the first Commission meeting of September, about September 9th, with construction starting a couple of months afterward in November of this year. We estimate construction to last about a year, so by November 2005, we should have a fully restored and functioning historical police precinct museum and community center, so I'd be happy to entertain any questions. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) MR. CANO: Yes, ma'am, we're shooting for September 9th Commission meeting for awarding the contract. Yes, sir. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Sir, do you have an agreement with the contractor? Because everybody tell us that they're going to hire from the neighborhood, but then once the contract is let and the contractor goes, he already Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 118 1 have a staff before he bids of workers that he can count 2 and depend on, so if it's not written in the contract that 3 he agreed to, there is no way to enforce that. Because I 4 am a general contractor and I'm in business for ten years, 5 obviously I know the best drywall people, the best mud 6 people, the best iron workers, and they'd be on my staff. 7 So I want your contract, my workers who have gotten me to 8 that point is expecting to work on any new contract I get. 9 So if you don't have wordings in the contract that say 10 that there is a penalty if I don't do this, I'm not going 11 to do that. 12 MR. CANO: Mr. Irby, the contract is -- that will 13 read that way; there is a provision in there that has to 14 be heeded to as it relate to minorities, and we will be 15 monitoring to make sure that these things happen. We will 16 be on the construction selection talking about the 17 organization and when they make that selection, we will be 18 there to make sure that these things are covered. 19 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: I'm not concerned about 20 minorities. It's 700,000 of them. I'm concerned about 21 African Americans. 22 MR. CANO: Okay, let me let me back up and tell 23 you I have the same concern. 24 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Good. Thank you. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, are there further Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 119 comments? All right, on this item? Yes, go right ahead. Please. Thank you. MR. RUDOLPH: Like I was saying, that's -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: Give them your name again for the record. MR. RUDOLPH: My name is Darrick Rudolph of 225 Northwest 22nd Street. I am a member of the local 272 Iron Workers and like Mr. McKnight said, but who do we go to when those jobs comes to us? Y'all got nothing to say that we going to be able to communicate with them. Because y'all say this in the meeting, but in the community we don't know nothing about it. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Let's -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) CHAIRMAN TEELE: Wait, wait, wait. Chief, look, this issue of jobs is a very real, very important issue. There's probably nothing more important. We're going to have to deal with that issue on all of these accounts, so let's don't focus in on this one at this point but let's come back to that issue. It's a very valid issue and I'm glad you are raising it. Okay, this is about a 1 point what? $1.5, $1.6 million job? MR. CANO: Yes, 1.7. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, and I don't want to get -- I don't want the $200 million jobs to go by we start Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 120 arguing over the million dollar -- every job's important, every job's important. MR. RUDOLPH: Just putting the seed in, just planting a seed, that's all. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Plant the seed. You done a good job and you're on your job. In fact, here's the head of the Laborers International Union that just -- that used to be in Overtown. They got all uppity and moved to Liberty City, Model City, but Al Huston, it's a pleasure to see you coming in and we respect very much the roots of your union, that Old Joe union which was right here in Overtown. We're going to move on. Miss Reddick, Miss Reddick, would somebody give her a mic, please? (Unintelligible) thank you for being here, Miss Reddick. MS. LUCILLE REDDICK: On the -- on the development of the -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Reddick, give us your name and address for the record, please. MS. REDDICK: Lucille Reddick, 517 Northwest loth Street, and I would like to know on the development of the police station and around, would that affect the homeowners of any way? CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, ma'am. The police -- the police station is on 5th and loth, llth. MS. REDDICK: Yes. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 121 CHAIRMAN TEELE: 5th and -- llth and 5th, and the only thing that is there, of course, is the health center now. MS. REDDICK: Health center, yeah. CHAIRMAN TEELE: The health center has really impacted negatively -- MS. REDDICK: Yes, I know. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Your home and other people living right across the street there on loth. MS. REDDICK: Right. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And what we're doing is arranging for the parking for this to be on the llth Street side so you won't have the problem that we've got right now with the health center. But one of the things, Miss Reddick, that I think if you know me and you've watched the Commission meeting, this parking situation in Overtown is horrendous. It is horrendous, and your family, you all have just been stressed out over the way the parking because there's just no place to park, and you know when Overtown was built 75,000 people lived here, virtually nobody had cars and all of that and we still have the same streets the same sidewalks but now we got cars. So one of the things that we're looking at very closely is to make sure that this police precinct does not negatively impact and there is parking, adequate parking Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 122 1 for that without -- on the llth Street side and not on the 2 10th Street side. Does that answer your question? 3 MS. REDDICK: Yes, thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you, Miss Reddick, for 5 being here, too. All right, ladies and gentlemen, this 6 job is moving on a very, very quickly. It is a lot of 7 work. These people have gone to Tallahassee any number of 8 times, they've gone out and raised grant money. This has 9 got -- they brought to the table over $300,000, but I want 10 it to be very clear; the money that is building this is 11 tax payer money that you approved when you approved the 12 $255 million bond issue. You remember when we did the 13 $255 bond issue Homeland Security, there was a category 14 called Historic Preservation? This is the largest single 15 grant coming out of that category. That category was I 16 think $8 million. This is the largest single grant coming 17 out of the preservation category, and it's going to 18 preserve this City venue. One of the things that we're 19 going to be asking the community to work with this retired 20 police officers association and the current police 21 officers and Miss Reynolds, this may be -- Officer 22 Reynolds, this may be a good time for you to take the mic 23 -- is we are going to need a lot of community support to 24 operate programs once this is built. This is going to be 25 built within the next few months, okay. This is going to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 123 be built within the next few months. The timetable continues to slip, but it's scheduled to be completed by November of '05. We're going to need your support in programming for the children and the afterschool programs that go in there. Officer Reynolds, would you just address how your association is going to be working with the retired association? OFFICER BURNELLE REYNOLDS: First of all, Commissioner Teele, you indicated that I'm a part of Model City. When it comes to our kids, I'm a part of everywhere when it comes to our youth. The present Miami Police Association will be working with our retirees, attending our meetings so that we can get our tutoring off the ground for all kids that's in need of tutoring, and we all know how important that is behind our FCAT program, so we will be working diligently to try and bring our kids' scores up. That's all our kids; Model City, Overtown; it doesn't make a difference. We've got to do something as it comes to that education aspect with our kids. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, thank you very much. Did you give your name and address for the clerk's records, please? OFFICER REYNOLDS: Burnelle Reynolds 1000 Northwest 62nd Street. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, let's give Officer Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 124 1 Reynolds ad all of the police officers a hand. 2 CHIEF DICKSON: Thank you, and I would just like 3 to say that this museum, it is a museum that we're -- 4 we're restoring here, has three classrooms in it. Those 5 are the classrooms that will be used and converted to be 6 used for the tutoring that we just got through talking 7 about. Thank you very much. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Reverend Ross, 9 please. Reverend Ross, Pastor Ross, pastor of Mount Zion, 10 Historic Mount Zion. 11 PASTOR RALPH M. ROSS: That's right, my name is 12 Ralph M. Ross. I am the pastor/teacher of the Historic 13 Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. I just want to make 14 a comment. I was born in Overtown and I spent my young 15 years in Liberty City and toward the end of that I lived 16 in Brown Slope. Now they call it Brownsville, which it 17 becomes -- anyway, I remember when the first African 18 American -- we said colored then, but the first African 19 American police officers were organized. Many of them 20 were men that we admired and who were our role models, and 21 I want to lift that up because something has happened that 22 the concept of the police has deteriorated in our time but 23 when I was coming up the men who were police officers were 24 sort of like father figures for yours and they could speak 25 to us outside of their official authority and we would Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 125 respond to that. Having said that, I guess I could say a whole lot and I'm not going to do that. I just want to simply commend these fine officers for their efforts to preserve this building. Our history is a rich and illustrious history. Unfortunately, our community has been systematically dismantled and the only thing that we have left are some buildings that represent to some extent some of our labor and some of our life and I want to commend the Commissioner and these men on preserving that building, and our historic building is one of the fine buildings of this community. Unfortunately, we are a church and there's always some ambivalence about the separation of church and State but we -- I would like to have that kind of assistance in preserving our building. Our building was one of the great structures in our community and we hosted people like Dr. Martin Luther King Junior and Thurgood Marshall and other outstanding people of our history, and since that building is the only thing left to represent that kind of involvement I would like to see us do all that we can to preserve all of the buildings that represent something of the history of Overtown. Thank you so much. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you, Reverend Ross. Let's give Pastor Ross -- always appropriate -- REVEREND PORTER: Stephen Porter 371 Northwest Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 126 1 3rd Street. I'm also Director of Touching Miami with Love 2 at 711 Northwest 6th Avenue, and I'd simply ask a question 3 of the -- 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And a member of the Overtown -- 5 REVEREND PORTER: And a member of the Overtown 6 Advisory Board, and most importantly a member of Mount 7 Zion, and so I would ask the police officers to please 8 discuss plans for afterschool programming with the 9 afterschool programs that are already operating within a 10 four -block radius of the proposed site. We would be glad 11 to work with you, and I am especially -- as a background 12 and as a historian excited that you're doing this project, 13 and we desperately need more activities. I think 14 preserving African American history, particularly in our 15 neighborhood within the lives and lines of our children -- 16 but there are operating programs, at least three currently 17 in that neighborhood of afterschool programs and so I 18 would love to see collaboration rather than competition 19 and make sure that we are reaching new children who aren't 20 being currently served rather than, you know, kind of 21 swapping children from the other programs, so I'd be happy 22 to speak with you later in the morning. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Excellent point, excellent 24 point, and that goes especially in conjunction with the 25 Optimists as well, and I also saw the Worshipful Master of Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 127 1 the Masonic Lodge who's here -- 2 (End of CD #3.) 3 The agenda, but in the context of what we're 4 talking about, the lodge, the Masonic Lodge which was 5 built in blank is up for a restoration and a part of the 6 things that we have in the five-year plan, Chelsa, is 7 putting the Net office in the Masonic Lodge building on 8 3rd Avenue and loth Street. When was the Masonic Lodge 9 building built? And give us your name and address for the 10 record, and one of the things we're concerned about is not 11 competing programs between the Masonic Lodge, the 12 Optimists, the Overtown Youth Center and all of the 13 competing programs that have been raised. That's an 14 excellent point. 15 MR. RICHARD EL' AMIN: My name is Richard El' 16 Amin. I am the past Pastor of New Providence Lodge. Our 17 Worshipful Master is Tracy Yalledy. 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I'm sorry, Worshipful Master is 19 Tracy Yalledy. I'm sorry, Worshipful Master. I -- I 20 don't mean to -- please don't pull my registration. Don't 21 pull my membership card. 22 MR. EL' AMIN: I'm presently the president of New 23 Providence, Inc., and the both of us -- I'm going to let 24 the Worshipful Master speak for a second. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What year was the lodge built? Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 128 1 MR. EL' AMIN: 1917. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: 1917. Okay. 3 WORSHIPFUL MASTER TRACY YALLEDY: Now, we're 4 currently undergoing construction for the New Providence 5 Lodge. We're hopefully to get that completed this month 6 and approved. I think it's still -- 7 MR. EL' AMIN: And we want to say -- I want to 8 recognize chief -- former Chief Dickson and he and I would 9 go way back back in the day when I was employed by the 10 City of Miami Police Department and he's been like a 11 father to me and has been that way for years and a mentor 12 to me and being a person that has been under a lot of 13 people that's been under mentors, we have a mentorship 14 program in the New Providence Lodge which would be 15 complimentary to all the other programs that we have. The 16 mentorship program is not geared around the tutorship, but 17 there are a lot of young men that do not have fathers, do 18 not have strong leadership, do not know the right 19 direction to take, so they look at the dopers, they look 20 at all the negative that is in the community -- 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, all right. Now let's 22 -- we're going to have to -- you not on the program. I 23 got a whole bunch of people, but let the Worshipful Master 24 speak before he puts me out of -- I'm not in this lodge, 25 not my blue lodge, but I'm always going to be respectful, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 129 Worshipful Master. WORSHIPFUL MASTER YALLEDY: There's no need of concern on that, Commissioner Teele. Basically -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: Your name and address for the record. WORSHIPFUL MASTER YALLEDY: Tracy Yalledy. I'm representing New Providence Lodge 971 Northwest 3rd Avenue. CHAIRMAN TEELE: In the context, Worshipful Master, of the police precinct that we're talking about, I was only just trying to acknowledge that this lodge has been where it is now since 1917. WORSHIPFUL MASTER YALLEDY: 17. CHAIRMAN TEELE: That's on 3rd Avenue. D.A. Dorsey Way and loth Street. Currently it's not on the agenda, but the City is planning to put approximately 200 -- $150,000 to put in an elevator, which we will be having a Community Development hearing on soon. We hope you all will come out and support that because we need to make sure that the people who have paid their dues are not penalized by having to walk upstairs, et cetera, and we also intend to do a buildout of the Net Office and that's projected at about $250,000. That's out of CRA budget, right? $270,000. That will be discussed as one of the last items. It's in the five-year plan, but we are Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 130 1 directing through my office approximately $500,000 into 2 the New Providence Lodge to stabilize it and to ensure 3 that developers don't come along and try to knock it off 4 the board so that it becomes a permanent representation of 5 the history of Overtown, and we want to acknowledge that 6 those Masonic Lodge is a positive role model for young 7 boys and girls, and their health fair every year, 8 back -to -school health program is one of the most 9 successful in the County, so let's thank the New 10 Providence Lodge. Again, Worshipful Master, thank you all 11 for being here. 12 All right. We're going to have to move the agenda 13 and we're going to pass out the ballots. If you live in 14 Overtown or are a part of the voting and came in late, 15 please move down to this -- the center or to the right to 16 receive a ballot. Ma'am, you need to be over here in this 17 side right over there. Yes, everybody over there if you 18 -- if you intend to vote now, we're going to do two 19 things; we're going to entertain very briefly Habitat for 20 Humanities. That's on the agenda. Miss Manning, you need 21 to come down and then we're going to go directly into the 22 largest program and project that is being planned for 23 Overtown. It's very -- it's very, very high visibility. 24 It's controversial, but so that we make sure that 25 everybody who's here today hears this, we would like very Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 131 much for you to allow us to bring up the Crosswinds project before Mark -- Reverend Cotes has to leave, so Miss Manning, would you just take the mic, introduce yourself. Mr. McKnight, if you could not -- Mr. McKnight, if you could not -- I'm not going to ask you not to do something. It will fall on deaf ears, anyway, but Miss Manning, there are some real concerns and I don't want to entertain all of those concerns but we will let some of the concerns come out. Miss Manning has taken the opportunity to bring Habitat time to the City of Miami. They could have gone anywhere in Dade County, any of the other 30 cities, and virtually all of the houses that have been built by Habitat in the last five years have been built in the City of Miami; is that a fair statement? MS. MANNING: No, we're building throughout the County. CHAIRMAN TEELE: How many -- what -- MS. MANNING: About 40 houses a year, and about half of those are in the City. CHAIRMAN TEELE: So half of all of the Habitat houses throughout Dade County are being built in the City, and we want to thank you for your effort, Miss Manning. Introduce yourself for the record and just make any statement you'd like. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 132 1 MS. ANN MANNING: Ann Manning, Executive Director 2 Habitat for Humanity. Address 2641 Southwest 30th Court. 3 Habitat has been building in Overtown for the last couple 4 of years. We have finished 33 houses in that time on 5 properties donated by the City and the County. Prior to 6 that we built 31 houses in Highland Park, which is not 7 historic Overtown as we know but it is a part of the 8 community development target area of Overtown, so for a 9 total of 64 houses in the CD or community development 10 Overtown area. We are still permitting houses in 11 Overtown. We have approximately 12 more. Those will be 12 two-story models. I think most of you have seen the 13 two-story models on 20th Street. We are building in 14 partnership with private donors and contributors; that's 15 how Habitat works and is able to proceed as quickly as it 16 does -- because we're not tied into government funding. 17 We do work with the government to get the property and 18 Commissioner Teele is very aware of that and that's what 19 we're looking to him for now. The homeowners that are in 20 this Overtown, they are done through where you have 21 leafletted the neighborhood, our homeowners have gone 22 through all of Overtown to all of the apartment complexes 23 letting folks know about our program. On our vacant lots, 24 we have signs telling folks how to apply. Monthly we have 25 meetings at the Greater Israel Primitive Baptist Church to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 133 1 let families apply there, and we also -- thanks to Mr. 2 Smith, we have information at the Net Office. I think Mr. 3 Teele was referring to some issues about whether all the 4 Habitat homeowners are Overtown residents. I think the 5 question is more are they all African American. No, 6 they're not, but what must be realized is there are 7 Hispanics, there are Haitians that live in Overtown and 8 they are eligible for that houses as well. While 9 initially, Mr. Smith, I wanted to thank you here 10 publicly for your work with us in code enforcement 11 issues and responding to us quickly and would request that 12 you are even more aggressive on code enforcement violators, 13 including if Habitat homeowners are not doing what they're 14 supposed to be doing, go after them and keep a high 15 standard for that neighborhood. We have been just 16 recently asking the Mayor's office to work aggressively to 17 not only place liens on properties that are in violation 18 but to foreclose on those liens and move them forward. 19 Lastly, our -- 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Michelle, the -- Michelle, the 21 people up there are not -- the way we have set this up, 22 the people who are voting must be in these two areas 23 before we compromise this, and I guess you all weren't in 24 here. I'm sorry, Miss Manning, go right ahead. 25 MS. MANNING: Sure. Our last issue, since Mr. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 134 1 Cano is here, Commissioner Teele, is also where we've 2 asked for improvements to 2nd Avenue, which abuts probably 3 15, of the houses, and we hope that that's in the cue for 4 being repaired, widening what looks like an alleyway -- 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: It is an alleyway. 6 MS. MANNING: It's a -- it's an avenue, 2nd 7 Avenue; two-way traffic on there. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: (Unintelligible) for the most 9 (unintelligible) Habitat housing on the map. Miss 10 Manning, let's just hold there. There are a number of 11 issues. The City is primarily providing the lands to 12 Habitat for a dollar or no consideration, I guess. 13 MS. MANNING: Maybe a dollar. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And we're contributing the lands 15 and of course Habitat uses volunteers. One of the 16 important things about Habitat is to get a house you must 17 volunteer. That's -- you -- you just can't sign up and 18 get a house. You got to help build some other people's 19 house before you get your house. 20 MS. MANNING: Right. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Now, Mr. McKnight and I know the 22 Overtown Advisory Board has raised a number of questions. 23 I don't want to have a long debate about it, but I would 24 welcome and invite you or a Habitat representative to 25 appear before the Overtown Advisory Board at the next Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 135 1 regular meeting and Mr. McKnight, I want to yield to you 2 as Chairman of the Overtown Advisory Board because you've 3 raised a number of issues. 4 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Yes. Good morning, Miss 5 Manning. Thank you for coming. 6 MS. MANNING: Sure. 7 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Your statement in reference 8 to the people who are residing in the Habitat houses, we 9 don't agree with that at all, not whatsoever. I have 10 lived in the neighborhood for 38 years, so you're not 11 going to get a lot by me because it's a one square mile 12 two-story neighborhood, so it's not like we have people on 13 the 16th floor and I'm on the ground floor, I don't know 14 what they're doing. We all are on the ground here, so we 15 know what's going on. The meetings -- when did you start 16 holding meetings at Greater Israel? 17 MS. MANNING: It's been over a year. 18 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: And how long have you been 19 building the houses? 20 MS. MANNING: Well, I've been there for two 21 years. I've been building for two years. 22 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Okay, so I asked that 23 question because I actually attacked to find out why there 24 were no meetings in the neighborhood. There were -- in your 25 first year of building, the meetings were held in Perrine. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 136 1 Just going to go through this. I have done my homework. 2. The Knight Foundation provided money to that church to 3 make certain that people in this community were notified. 4 You stated that they passed out flyers. I live at 1040 5 Northwest 3rd Avenue and there are other -- there are 6 eight other families that live there. Not a one of us 7 ever received the flyers. I don't go to jail, I go home 8 every day. The wind didn't below it away because there 9 are four people there all day long, so one of the persons 10 who live there would have seen the flyer. I'm not -- this 11 conversation is not about that. It is about coming to the 12 Overtown Advisory Board, getting the word out to the 13 people in this neighborhood. You have homes completed 14 that families are afraid to move in. That's 'cause they 15 not from this neighborhood. They are boarded up. I know 16 because they have been parking for us, so we know. 17 MS. MANNING: I don't agree. 18 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: No, we know, so -- and that's 19 -- I agree that there are Hispanics and Haitians living in 20 the neighborhood. I totally agree to that. Not before 21 1960, but I still agree to it. And in the meantime, the 22 number of people brought into the homes does not equal any 23 percentage in line to the number of ethnic groups that you 24 mentioned, and I don't want them to go anywhere. I want 25 them to be here. The neighborhood is changing, and it is Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 137 going to change. MS. MANNING: Uh-huh. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: But if the City's giving our land, then we need to be somewhere. MS. MANNING: But you still have to qualify for the program. It's not a gift. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Oh, I understand that you have to qualify for the program. We understand that, and we also know that we would not want the qualifications to be flexible, either. We like -- MS. MANNING: Not (unintelligible) you wouldn't. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Meaning we don't want to do A B and C and then think we are qualified and then somebody tell us about D E and F that was never mentioned to us before. Those are flexible rules. We don't want those, we want A B C D E and F, and you must do those things and you -- or you can't be here. MS. MANNING: And that's true for our program. CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: And we want that told up front. Well, that's not basically what happens. There's usually good intentions with everyone, but a disconnect happens. When the zip code is 33136, there's a disconnect. People are waiting on government checks on the 3rd along 3rd Avenue and the postal authorities will make you believe that come rain or shine they deliver the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 138 1 mail. Well, those people can tell you they didn't get it. 2 MS. MANNING: Well, I think the best thing to do 3 is not to have me standing before you but the 33 families 4 who are buying those houses and you can tell them that 5 they had all that not knowing what they're qualifying or 6 they don't live in the house because I don't think it's 7 true, so not me but -- 8 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: No, no, no. I don't think 9 you are understanding what I'm saying -- 10 MS. MANNING: Oh, I understand -- 11 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: -- the 33 families that are 12 living in the house don't have anything to do with this 13 whole mess. They picking the ones that are going to be 14 there, and since they are not the ones picking them, then 15 I don't want to see them. 16 MS. MANNING: Actually, they are involved in that 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Manning and -- 18 MS. MANNING: They are involved in selecting. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Manning and Mr. McKnight, 20 as I started out, I think it would be very, very 21 advantageous if a representative from Habitat could just 22 sit down with the Overtown Advisory Board over one of 23 their nice meetings. Maybe you all could have a meeting 24 just on that issue. 25 MS. MANNING: Yeah, maybe the homeowners Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 139 1 association could come to that. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And maybe -- it would be open to 3 the public, but Miss Manning, I think the real issue is 4 this; there is a massive effort which everybody's antennas 5 are up for now gentrify Overtown; that is, to bring people 6 into the community -- 7 MS. MANNING: But you know that's not happening 8 with Habitat. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well -- 10 MS. MANNING: In fact, it's saving that from 11 happening by selling to low income families. 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I believe that the long-term 13 benefits of Habitat for Humanity,, even if it does 14 gentrify, is worth it because to put homeowners in what is 15 right now -- in what according to the American census is 16 the lowest concentration of homeownership of any census 17 tract in America -- not in Florida but in America -- it is 18 a positive thing. I think what needs to happen really is 19 we need to have a more proactive effort with the churches, 20 the CDCs and the Overtown Advisory Board in helping to 21 qualify people in Overtown and in the Overtown area to 22 fully meet and qualify for the Habitat program. I think 23 that's really where -- and we don't need to attack each 24 other on this. Could I just see the hands for a minute of 25 anybody who doesn't own a home -- wait, hold it. Not -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 140 1 that ain't the issue 'cause -- but who would be interested 2 in sitting down and seeing if you could qualify for a 3 Habitat house. 4 MS. MANNING: And that -- 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, there's about one, two, 6 three, four, five -- if you could -- if you would leave 7 your hands up, I am going to ask the City staff if, ladies 8 And gentlemen, if you all would just get the names of the 9 people and the address and phone number of the people who 10 have their hands up and let's use this as a starting point 11 to get information and then I'm going to charge the 12 Overtown Advisory Board with really working in a proactive 13 program to do recruitment because we can't ask you all to 14 do everything, you know, and we've got to come to the 15 table and partner, be a partner, an equal partner with 16 you. And Mr. McKnight, if you all would accept that as a 17 challenge or an opportunity -- 18 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: We will. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We'll work to try to find 20 support funding for the Overtown Advisory Board to be 21 proactive in reaching out. And by the way, if you qualify 22 you may be living in Overtown but you may be living in 23 anywhere there is a home that's available; is that right? 24 MS. MANNING: They can select anywhere they want 25 to live. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 141 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So you can select where you want 2 to live. Now we don't want you to leave Overtown. 3 MS. MANNING: We're not red -lining. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But we are running out of land 5 and the critical issue for everybody to understand is 6 this; the City and the County are running out of land for 7 Habitat houses, and the reason is this; as property values 8 increase, and they're increasing very rapidly, people are 9 not abandoning the property. We get land that has been 10 abandoned after nobody pays the taxes for three years. 11 Those are called Cork 90 properties, and we turn those 12 properties over to Habitat. We are not out buying land 13 per se. We are acquiring property through the -- through 14 land that is not being -- taxes are paid on it, so keep 15 your hands up if you would like for somebody -- Michelle, 16 y'all need to move around here and get these people's 17 names real quickly. Pascal, where you? 18 MS. MANNING: And I think instead of deriding the 19 program, we should be -- you should be very happy that 20 Overtown residents are in fact homeowners, and being the 21 poorest neighborhood that they are eligible and are 22 qualifying. I think that's amazing, and you should be 23 happy about that instead of tearing a program down, you 24 should be applauding those families have done that. 25 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: Miss Manning, I am not Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 142 1 tearing your program down. 2 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: I agree. 3 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: But let me say this to you; 4 Miss Manning, there was an article in the newspaper where 5 a Hispanic family was very appreciative to Habitat for the 6 house in Windwood, when the house was actually in 7 Overtown. So not only are you gentrifying the community, 8 you have changed its name. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But she doesn't write the 10 headlines; God knows that. 11 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: I know she doesn't write the 12 head -- I know she doesn't write the headline, but she 13 knows that this is a sensitive issue and the next day I 14 didn't see her letter asking for a correction. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But I think the real 16 opportunity, Miss Manning and Mr. McKnight, is to have a 17 dialogue and work together. Now, I see people up here. 18 Are you all participating in this? Are you all -- you're 19 welcome to be here, but if you want to vote and get all of 20 that, you need to come down here. 21 MS. MANNING: I just have one comment I'd like to 22 make. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on just a minute. One, 24 two, three. 25 MS. MANNING: I think she was first. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 143 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I apologize. Go right ahead. 2 JACQUI COLYER: Good morning. My name is Jacqui 3 Colyer. I am a resident of Overtown. I live at 425 4 Northwest 6th Street, and one of the things that I'd like 5 to bring to the table that I think is really critical and 6 I notice that the black police precinct and courthouse 7 museum is going to be restored at a cost of $1.7 million. 8 I'm not going to even do the math on 6,000 square feet for 9 $1.7 million, but at any rate I know that operations for 10 programs in Overtown is always a major issue and as the 11 Vice Chair of the State Advisory Group for Juvenile 12 Justice and Delinquency Prevention one of the things that 13 I'd like to bring to the table is a way to assist the 14 black police precinct provide programming for the 15 children, children that they would like to have in that 16 precinct, and one of the programs that the State Advisory 17 Group has is called -- it deals with disproportionate 18 minority representation in the juvenile justice and in the 19 criminal justice system and last year we gave over $2 20 million to programs throughout the State that dealt 21 specifically with dealing with overrepresentation of 22 minorities in the juvenile justice system, and if anybody 23 would like to work with me on that I will work with you to 24 make sure that you get some funding at least for 25 operationalizing programs in the museum because I think Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 EMA[! 1 that one of the things that we keep looking at that 2 happens over and over in this community -- nobody says 3 anything about it, and that is the disproportionate number 4 of children -- of black children, and it used to be just 5 boys but now it's boys and girls -- that are over 6 represented in the criminal justice and in the juvenile 7 justice system. So I am going to leave my card -- I have 8 my card, I am going to leave it with you. Whoever would 9 like to have it, I'm going to give it to you and it has 10 all my good numbers on it, so I would be more than happy 11 to help with helping you with operations because see, you 12 can build a building but it will sit there empty with no 13 money to run programs, and the thing about what you really 14 need to do is have the monies to run the programs because 15 that's where the rubber meets the road. 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Colyer, you are absolutely 17 right, and I think one of the other areas you could be 18 very helpful is working to help the police understand the 19 Work Force Development issues as well, because the biggest 20 problem that we have in the City of Miami and Kendall and 21 Dade County is the lack of money for programming. Because 22 of your efforts in approving the bond issue, we have money 23 to build things; now build parks. Every park if you go by 24 it has got a sign on it; something is being upgraded. 25 That's because you approved the bonds issue, but you can't Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 145 1 use bond dollars to operate programs and that's the 2 hardest thing to explain. Miss Colyer, thank you very 3 much and I hope we will take you up on that. 4 Okay, as it relates to Habitat for Humanity, very 5 quickly yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. 6 MS. ROSA GREEN: You only want to hear about 7 Habitat? 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: At this point. 9 MS. GREEN: Okay, Rosa Green, and I think it's a 10 excellent gesture that they are doing and I don't know 11 what the qualifications is but we don't know what hardly 12 anything is because of nobody getting the information out 13 and I just want to say this; since you are putting that on 14 the Overtown quote unquote Advisory Board, Commissioner 15 Teele, according to the documents, the reason that the 16 Overtown Advisory Board was established in 1982 was for 17 historic preservations but it seems as though they are 18 doing everything and I'm totally disappointed with it. 19 It's a comment upon you to straighten that so-called board 20 out, and I think it's time for change of a color of the 21 guard. I been in here ten years. Nothing has been 22 accomplished. 30 and 40 years nothing has been 23 accomplished. So it's change -- it's time for a change, 24 and I am totally disappointed about this referendum. We 25 have not had enough time. I have to agree with the young Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1!; 1 lady, because I hadn't seen this. We have not had enough 2 time to go over these issues and find out exactly what 3 they are talking about. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Ms. Green -- 5 MS. GREEN: We should not be able to vote today. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, Miss Green, we're going to 7 vote today. It's not binding, and you don't have to vote 8 but let me just say this -- 9 MS. GREEN: It's not binding? 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let me just say this; those 11 ballots were done inappropriately, and I stand on that. We 12 never pass out the ballots other than one at a time after 13 the issue has been explained. The only thing that people 14 is going to be voting on now when they pass out these 15 boxes as this other group starts is item number one. 16 MS. GREEN: Okay. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: That is the police precinct. 18 There will be no votes on anything until it's been 19 explained, Miss Green. 20 MS. GREEN: Oh, okay. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You know I wouldn't do that. 22 MS. GREEN: Okay. One other thing -- 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, we talking about Habitat for 24 Humanity. I am going to shut this down and go right into 25 Crosswinds because -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 147 1 MS. GREEN: Okay. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We going to -- yes, ma'am, I 3 can't do that to you. 4 MS. LINDA WATSON: Can I speak? 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am. 6 MS. GREEN: I'll be back. 7 MS. WATSON: My name is Linda Watson. I live in 8 1670 Northwest 4th Avenue apartment 12B. I'm tired to 9 hear what is happening in my co-op. (Unintelligible) sell 10 us a management. The management stole the money. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Wait, wait. What co-op is this? 12 MS. WATSON: Town Park Village number one. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. Listen, ma'am. I will 14 hear this, and let's all -- we have some serious problems 15 in all those Town Park Villages. That's why I've got it 16 on the agenda. I'm trying to get -- we're going to have 17 to have a -- 18 MS. WATSON: This is serious. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I understand, but we are not 20 going to start accusing people of stealing, even if it's 21 true, until we get every -- 22 MS. WATSON: That's the reason we are not no 23 owner; because I live there 32 years, I never owe a penny 24 and like me there's more people that live there never owe 25 a penny. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. 2 MS. WATSON: And that's the reason we are not no 3 owner. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, let me do this; 5 that's -- it's a lot more complicated than that, but let's 6 do this; if the Overtown Advisory Board will agree to it, 7 Mr. McKnight, let's hold a joint meeting with all of the 8 Town Park people in the Town Park area within the next 30 9 days. Let's get the notice out, Adrian -- just hold on 10 now. When you were called -- you know, we're going to 11 acknowledge that, but this is a serious issue, Town Park 12 village. There are three different associations, three 13 different sets of problems, three different sets of 14 issues, and it's going to get very confusing if everybody 15 starts talking about their issue in this context. So what 16 we want to do is get on the table that we've got some 17 concerns in Town Park Village. The Town Park Village, all 18 three of those associations has a board of directors. 19 All of those boards of directors are elected by the 20 residents, and we have to be very careful that we are not 21 coming in and interfering with the board of directors, 22 and we need to have a meeting on that issue so that those 23 associations -- you'll see when we allow the Town Park 24 people to speak. We heard from the president of the 25 association, and it's not fair to have a discussion about Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 149 1 somebody, especially if you're going to accuse them of 2 stealing, and not have everybody there. So respectfully 3 we are going to ask everybody to hold the Town Park -- we 4 are -- we'll get back to that before we end today and 5 we're going to hear right now from -- did Reverend Cotes 6 leave? He had to leave? Who's going to be representing 7 Crosswinds? Let me -- let me ask Steve if you would come 8 forward in addition. Thank you very much. We're going to 9 get back to that, ma'am. 10 MS. WATSON: Thank you, because see, like me we 11 went to the (unintelligible) the poll, the 12 (unintelligible) didn't keep the money. The one that keep 13 the money is the management, and they haven't do nothing 14 to them and -- is CHAIRMAN TEELE: I wish y'all -- 16 MS. WATSON: -- we are losing our place. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I wish y'all wouldn't accuse 18 people of stealing in this meeting 'cause see, that always 19 gets back wrong. One more question on Habitat and we're 20 going to close that out. Was there one more question? 21 MS. DOROTHY JACKSON: Hi, my name is a door 22 Dorothy Jackson. I stay at 1805 Northwest 2nd Court 23 apartment 303. I was going to talk about Habitat. When 24 they say low income, half of us over here are lower than 25 income. Half of us don't even make $5,000 a year you see Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 150 1 and we want a house but we barely can afford where we stay 2 at, so I want to know how can we get a house. Now, I work 3 with National Longshoremen, but I don't even get two days 4 a month and I've been working with them since 1994, so 5 when they say low income, you know -- 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You work with Longshoremen? 7 MS. JACKSON: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: In the office? As a -- 9 MS. JACKSON: No, I'm a laborer. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You're a laborer? Are you in 11 the office? You're a laborer or you a runner -- 12 MS. JACKSON: I work on the port. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yeah, but are you a member of 14 their union or are you waiting to be in? 15 MS. JACKSON: No, I'm in -- I'm in there. 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, I can tell you right now 17 you can qualify. 18 MS. JACKSON: I qualify, but I don't even get two 19 days of a month, so how can I qualify? 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You don't what? 21 MS. JACKSON: I don't get two days of a month 22 there. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You still going to qualify. 24 MS. JACKSON: All I get is child support -- 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You still -- if you are a member Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 151 1 of the union, you're going to qualify. 2 MS. JACKSON: Okay. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, let's -- what -- give all 4 these people here -- just Michelle, would you get her 5 name, phone number. 6 MS. JACKSON: I gave it to her already. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Give her my home phone number 8 and we're going to get you into qualifying. . 9 MS. JACKSON: Okay, that will be good. Thank 10 you. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 12 MS. JACKSON: I hope to have a home over here. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, now see, there you go; 14 instead of saying thank you you're going to start 15 picking and choosing. 16 MS. JACKSON: That's what I -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We hope you -- we hope you will 18 be over here. All right, we're going to ask Steve 19 Feldman, who's the National President of the National 20 Division of the Crosswinds Community, Incorporated. 21 Ladies and gentlemen, there is no issue -- there is no 22 issue that is going to determine the future and the fate 23 of Overtown that I'm aware of more than the presentation 24 you're going to hear from now. Let me say this again so 25 nobody -- anybody asleep, huh? Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 152 1 COLLECTIVE: (Unintelligible.) 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on just one minute. There 3 is no issue that is going to change and affect Overtown 4 more than the presentation that you're going to hear about 5 right now. I'm going to let them explain it the way they 6 want to. The item that he will be talking about relates 7 to referendums four, five and six. Okay, after this 8 presentation, after the discussion we will vote on four, 9 five and six and we will let anybody make comments and we 10 modify our referendums to include comments if people want 11 to do that before we vote. At this time I'm going to ask 12 the clerks's office to collect the ballots on item number 13 one, on item number one only related to the police 14 precinct. Do not give them a ballot on anything else 15 because the only ballot that is going to be counted will 16 be on ballot number one, so pull that off. The 17 presentation you are hearing now will -- relates to item 18 numbers four, five and six, so without further ado -- and 19 I want everybody to pay very close attention to the 20 presentation and we are going to welcome in a very warm 21 Overtown way the President of Crosswinds, Mr. Steve 22 Feldman. Let's give him a very warm hand. Thank you, 23 Steve, for being here. 24 MR. STEVE FELDMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 25 Thank you all very much. Again, my name is Steve Feldman. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 153 1 I live on Brickel Avenue just down the street and have 2 been a resident in Florida for almost 30 years now. I'd 3 like -- I'd like very much, first of all, to recognize the 4 chairman. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on one minute, Steve. 6 MR. FELDMAN: Yes, sir. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Where is Brenda Lee? Brenda, 8 y'all need to move these people around to help -- anybody 9 that's got a question or a concern, please raise your hand 10 and somebody will help you, okay? We really need your 11 cooperation and I really need for everybody that's here 12 today to pay close attention to Mr. Feldman. This 13 presentation is going to take a few minutes, so let's all 14 settle down and hear that. Murray, you need to come down 15 here. You don't need to make everybody come to you, you 16 need to come on down here and join us. Did you bring some 17 peppers or corn? 18 MR. FELDMAN: Thank you. Thank you. Mr. 19 Chairman, I do want to acknowledge -- I do want to 20 acknowledge the Reverend Mark Cotes. Mark had to take his 21 mom to a funeral and hopefully will be able to return 22 before this meeting is adjourned. Again, Mr. Chairman, I 23 do want to thank you in particular for inviting us today, 24 in addition to that certainly for your leadership, your 25 ideas and your vision regarding the -- our Overtown Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 154 1 initiative as a public/private partnership. Your 2 contributions as late as yesterday have significant merit 3 and I think more than adequate testimony of your concern, 4 your representation of your constituents regarding the 5 Crosswinds Overtown initial public partnership initiative. 6 Just very briefly, I'm President of Crosswinds National. 7 We are a national community development firm. We are 8 developing throughout State of Florida, Michigan, 9 California, Arizona, Virginia and North Carolina, and we 10 do traditional development work that you see in suburban 11 living as most other home builders and community 12 developers do such as Lenar as an example of another local 13 firm, but we've developed a national reputation for urban 14 development. There are very few in the country that truly 15 do urban development. We see a lot of highrises going up 16 here, there and particularly in South Florida now almost 17 everywhere. While that may be your branch development, it 18 is differentiated from what our product is and 19 particularly as it applies to Overtown and downtown 20 Detroit and elsewhere where we are delivering this product 21 line. It is in fact an urban village; an urban village 22 characterized as multiple housing styles and in this 23 instance as Matt Schwartz will soon explain will feature 24 townhouses to midrise residential units as well as retail 25 and commercial opportunities, live -work units that provide Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 155 1 opportunities for -- as many of us did in growing up, 2 living over the store, if you will, or over the office, 3 and other unique features of urban living because Overtown 4 in the 21st Century has become an urban development. As I 5 said before, Matt Schwartz, our Director of Urban 6 Development, will explain in more in detail about the 7 community. I just wanted to touch very briefly on the 8 process that we have been going through over the past 9 actually year and -a -half in working with in particular in 10 Phase 1 on the Poinciana and Sawyer's Walk, and I 11 certainly want to acknowledge our partners Ted Weitzel and 12 my dear friend and I think one of the indeed grand grand 13 ladies of all of South Florida, Bernie Sawyer and her 14 husband Bill. While I -- while I certainly acknowledge 15 and revere the lessons in Overtown history from the Black 16 Archives and Dorothy in particular, there is a different 17 kind of a message when Bernice Sawyer tells me stories. 18 It is a beautiful thing, and I need for everyone to 19 understand right from the get -go that we came to this 20 community, this community of Overtown, sort of as a -- a 21 canvas that has no paint on it, a spongy kind of a canvas 22 that says let us learn, let us, my team, learn what this 23 history is, understand its value to those who care and 24 then execute a plan that carries forward the legacy of 25 those elements of this community that are indeed important Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 156 1 and can be incorporated into this first development, this 2 Phase 1 of what hopefully we perceive to be the beginning 3 of something significantly grander as it moves through the 4 square mile of Overtown and beyond that. We create this 5 strong, strong sense of community and enrich it with a 6 legacy of its history. Now, I want to -- once again, I 7 want to thank the Commissioner because in each and every 8 case we look for the essence of the community; what is it, 9 what amenity or amenities can we bring that are consistent 10 with its history that expand on the premise of its growth, 11 and I thank the Commissioner for enlightening us in 12 particular as we have consistently characterized the 13 centerpiece of this community is the Lyric Theatre and 2nd 14 and 8th become really pretty much main and Main Street for 15 us, and the Lyric Theatre as it -- not only as it is today 16 but as it is being developed becomes a critical element of 17 our development theme, and as Commissioner Teele 18 understood that he then came back to us and said you know, 19 what you really need to understand is more again about the 20 history of Overtown and its contribution, its legacy and 21 it's contribution to entertainment in particular. And we 22 thought about that and said you know, that is a 23 phenomenal, phenomenal awakening for each of us. We knew 24 that, but we didn't quite understand it until Commissioner 25 Teele enlightened us, and in conversations that I've had Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 157 1 with Mrs. Sawyer and others about the beautiful legacy of 2 entertainment. Because one of the things that we do know 3 is that -- is that entertainment, politics and religion 4 are the three largest employers of minorities; that the 5 barriers to entry into those elements, those industries, 6 are relatively low, and that if we can expand this theme 7 and bring forth this premise of entertainment, there may 8 very well be a uniqueness that we can create that not only 9 brings residents here to live permanently but again 10 brings visitors and tourists to our community that 11 obviously help enrich the Overtown future. Back to our 12 product line. This is designed to be a market -rate middle 13 income development for homeownership. We believe that 14 homeownership is quintessential to all elements of 15 community building that provide for the cohesiveness and 16 ultimately the stability of the entire neighborhood. 17 Again, and the retail elements as Mr. Schwartz, Matt, will 18 explain are in support of that; of the homeowners who will 19 ultimately live in this community. Through the course of 20 this past year, we have consistently worked with initially 21 with the Collins Center and Phil Bacon and his team, 22 who have helped very very much our ability to reach into 23 the community -- deeper into the community and work with 24 the Black Archives and Mount Zion and Reverend Nevins and 25 his group at St. John's and BAM, Bill Mozzie and everyone Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 158 1 else who has willingly offered us their ideas, their -- 2 their facts, their interests, their energy, and it has 3 been no easy task in arriving here to this day that I have 4 the opportunity to show you something that we think has an 5 enormous amount of merit. I'll tell you, I get -- I do 6 get somewhat emotionally involved in this because it is an 7 emotional experience for all us. All of us, we care a 8 great deal about this community and we want to make 9 certain that what we bring to this community makes all the 10 sense in the world, and while it may not feature an 11 opportunity for everyone who lives in Overtown we think 12 that we are certainly covering the majority in terms of 13 the elements of our development and we want -- we want you 14 to understand what those elements are. There is an 15 executive summary included in your package today of the -- 16 what's known as the Settlement Agreement, which is in 17 effect our agreement with the City CRA to execute this 18 development. I'd like -- before we -- before I go on any 19 further, for Matt Schwartz, our Director of Development, 20 to please describe to you in much greater detail our plan 21 for Overtown Phase 1. 22 MR. MATTHEW SCHWARTZ: Thank you, and I won't be 23 too much detail. I think -- does everyone have a copy of 24 the map, the plan? Okay, plans change and let's see if it 25 mentioned -- actually, with Commissioner Teele's and as Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 159 1 Steve had mentioned, actually with Commissioner Teele's 2 input yesterday, this map was modified. So any planning 3 process is something that keeps on changing. We hope to 4 have approvals in the month of June both from the City 5 Commission and the CRA will allow us to initiate sales 6 sometime late this year next winter and actually start 7 construction sometime about a year from now. This is -- 8 this program has -- this plan is really a follow-up to 9 something that the City did and the County back in the 10 late 1970s, early 180s; the Southeast Overtown Park West 11 Redevelopment Plan, and as you recall and if you look at 12 your map, nine blocks was acquired by Dade County and the 13 City of Miami to build a -- to initiate the development of 14 middle income housing in downtown and in Overtown to sort 15 of bridge. Back in the old days, in the late 1970s, and I 16 attended lots of meetings, one of the major concerns of 17 the Overtown community was -- and I know a few people 18 here, Sonny Wright and Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, Irby, Jackie 19 Bell and others, many others were at these meetings, and a 20 concern was that there was a need to create middle income 21 housing in Overtown; something that when someone got to a 22 certain economic level could afford a house, could afford 23 a better product. It would be in the community. People 24 weren't forced to move out. First it was the expressways 25 and urban renewal, later on it was that there was nothing Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 160 1 to buy in Overtown as you got a little up the economic 2 ladder, so the idea was to create middle income housing 3 and to create a bridge between downtown because of the 4 fear that, you know, with the government center and what 5 was happening downtown that Overtown would be swallowed up 6 by downtown, so to remain as basically a residential 7 community and a bridge between Overtown and downtown was 8 also very important to retain Overtown, and especially 9 this area, as part of the black community. That's one of 10 the reasons the Black Archives was initiated and became 11 very active. The restoration of Lyric Theatre is an 12 outgrowth of these activities that Dorothy Fields and the 13 really pioneers back in the middle -- middle to late 14 1980s, the first project in Overtown was constructed and 15 it was built over a few years; the 64 units on Poinciana 16 Village, and that really the residents there are really 17 the urban pioneers. This is what they -- they took a 18 risk. They came back to this community, bought, invested 19 their money. Unfortunately, the rest of the neighborhood 20 didn't come about and part of that was when the arena was 21 built the NBA was required -- the City was required to 22 provide 4,500 parking spaces, so what became -- was 23 supposed to be housing starting in the late 1980s ended up 24 becoming parking lots for the arena. Well, back to today 25 it looks like after a long delay we're about to start this Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 161 1 development with the approvals of the City hopefully this 2 month, but what we're talking about, we're talking about 3 areas from 8th Street -- excuse me, 8th Street on the 4 north, 6th Street on the south, the transit station on the 5 east and the I-95 on the west. We're talking about three 6 and -a -half blocks for this initial activity. We're 7 talking about in that area to construct about a little 8 over a thousand units of middle income housing, and I'll 9 explain a little more about the housing what it is on this 10 sheet. We're talking about quality housing that's going 11 to be in a different variety of types, things that have 12 not -- you don't even find in the downtown market. We're 13 going to have live -work units where people can actually 14 operate businesses, live within the unit. We're going to 15 have units that are townhomes that -- what we call stack 16 townhomes, which is one townhouse on top of another 17 townhouse. We're also going to be involved -- also 18 construct midrise -- we're talking about 8 -- and the 19 tallest building would be 17 stories, so we're talking 20 about a scale that really fits into Overtown. Right 21 across from the Overtown transit station right now if you 22 look there's some construction going on. There's a new 23 17-story office building going under, so the -- our 24 tallest building, and there will only be one of them in 25 this initial phase, is -- would be the same height. The Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 162 1 bulk of the housing is in low-rise and mid -rise 2 structures. The units have -- will have amenities. 3 They're going to have swimming pools. This is going to be 4 quality housing. Most of the units will be built there 5 will be two stories of townhouses and above that will be 6 either six stories, so it will be an 8-story building, and 7 in one case it will be a 17-story, so there will be 8 structured parking, plenty of recreation areas, and this 9 is really going to be an architecturally distinct project. 10 We retained the services of Architectonica and if any of 11 you can remember Miami vice you know the building on 12 Brickel Avenue with the hole in it, and it's still there, 13 they are the designers of that. But they also are the 14 designers of the new courthouse that's coming up right 15 across the street on the other side of Overtown, that 16 brand new building. A key to this is that this housing is 17 a mixture of housing and also key to the work of the City 18 of Miami and the initiatives working with the 19 administration the Commissioner's office, the Mayor's 20 office was the intent make sure that there is benefits to 21 the Overtown community. Part of the housing and one of 22 the questions that when I went to a meeting recently at 23 the Overtown Advisory Board is, you know, what price range 24 -- who can afford this, what we're talking about. And I 25 don't think it was adequately answered to the community, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 163 1 so these are just some basic things about the project; we 2 anticipate that the bulk of the housing will sell in the 3 range of $125,000 to $250,000. Right now the housing I 4 believe at St. Agnes is edging up in price. The new units 5 in St. Agnes I think start over $130,000 now, so these are 6 homeownership housing, so this is basically the next 7 sector of the market we're talking about. This is a 8 condominium project, so there will not be any single 9 family homes. These will be apartment -type units. The 10 price range or the income levels for this that we 11 anticipate -- and 80 percent of these units are free 12 market, so basically if you can afford it you can buy it, 13 but we agreed with the City that we will keep it within a 14 price range that's the market we want to hit, and this is 15 -- this is what we -- you generally call the City and the 16 County call work force housing or when I used to work in 17 the Planning Department years ago it was for the working 18 poor; people who, you know, the key to this type of 19 housing, we're talking about people, family incomes 20 generally with $40,000 to $80,000 range. That's what 21 we're talking about, and most residents of Overtown do not 22 - would not qualify, but there are other housing programs 23 in Overtown. But to ensure that there is Overtown -- 24 existing Overtown residents have an opportunity to 25 purchase units in this, there is a proposal to have at Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 164 1 least 50 of the units within the project set aside for 2 existing Overtown residents and with incomes -- and I 3 don't want to get everyone all confused -- we're talking 4 50 -- there's 80 percent, the median family no one knows 5 what we're talking about, but we're really talking about 6 if you go to a family of four we're talking about 7 individuals that earn for a family of four the low end 8 would be incomes about $26,000 and the high end would be 9 $42,000, and that makes that a lot more affordable, and 10 there are a significant number of people in Overtown who 11 would qualify for this housing. These units will be built 12 interspersed within the project. Someone will be paying 13 $210,000 for a unit and right next to it will be one of 14 these units, and the units will be similar in size, 15 character, so we're going to provide quality housing 16 through that mechanism. They will also be built over the 17 length of the project, and we're talking about building 18 this out probably in four years unless we're lucky when we 19 open a sales office next fall and there's a massive 20 influx, which you think may happen. We may be able to 21 build this a lot faster. There's another 150 units in 22 this first Phase that we call affordable housing, and this 23 is housing for income levels between 80 and 120 percent of 24 the median family income, and that if you look at the -- 25 if you turn the page, the handout, it will tell you that Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 165 1 for a family of four it's people with incomes between 2 $42,000 and $63,000, to just give you an idea. Probably 3 the maximum selling price of these units would be 4 $165,000, so that will be the same unit that some units 5 will sell for $200,000 and some will be at $165,000, and 6 it may be almost the same unit. I mean, may have a little 7 less of the amenities, but those are set aside as 8 affordable units. They will be set aside in that price 9 range through the year 2013, and the way this deal works 10 with the City and as part of this -- but there's a big 11 benefit if you are an existing Overtown resident or a 12 former Overtown resident -- you will get priority to these 13 units and also you will not have the restrictions on the 14 sale price that you -- you could sell it earlier at a 15 profit, and what's happening in the downtown housing 16 market, fortunately and unfortunately, it's escalating 17 very fast. Last year the cost of housing, the value of 18 housing and homeownership in Miami increased 28 percent, 19 and that's astronomical. So we're keeping the value of 20 the housing, the price of the housing in a very affordable 21 price range of the -- also, the key to this project is the 22 fact of not everyone in Overtown may qualify or could 23 afford to live here, but we are going to make sure that we 24 provide as many jobs, link them to the project similar to 25 what was talked about with the police station. We have a Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 .: 1 commitment to set up in conjunction with the labor unions 2 -- Florida Work Force have a first horse hiring agreement 3 that priority jobs first go to Overtown residents and 4 second go to City residents and then if there's any jobs 5 left to County residents, but we won't hire anyone from 6 Broward County. I guarantee that. The next aspect of 7 this is that we are required to provide strong minority 8 participation in the project as far as jobs and stuff, and 9 there are penalties in it, and to produce this project the 10 City is providing -- proposing to provide Crosswinds some 11 benefits, and what the benefits are Crosswinds will be 12 leasing -- will lease or purchase the property from the 13 City at fair market value, and what you call fair market 14 value, it's based on what the proposed redevelopment 15 project is so the City is evaluating the value of the land 16 on the development of creating a thousand units of middle 17 income housing, not another 70-story office building, 18 which you couldn't build here anyway, and the other 19 benefit that we have requested from the City is that what 20 we call the taxes, the tax increment generated from this 21 project between now and the year 2013 go back to the 22 project and that's going to be utilized for public 23 improvements and for park structures for the project. 24 This really provides -- this is probably the first time in 25 50 years that there is a significant public investment in Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 167 1 Overtown; not governmental. This is private investment 2 we're talking about an expenditure of somewhere between 3 $150 and $200 million, and it's not just one building here 4 or one building there. We're talking about if you look at 5 the map building a neighborhood, and we hope very much to 6 submit a proposal on block 36 working with the Black 7 Archives and working very closely with the Collins Center 8 and other Community Development Corporations like Mount 9 Zion, St. John's, BAM within the community to work and 10 help to redevelop everything moving up from llth Street 11 moving up past 8th Street up to llth Street and assisting 12 in the revitalization of Overtown. Key to this project is 13 Steve had mentioned that we are not coming in and slicing 14 this project off from Overtown. We intend to become part 15 of the community. I've also listed my phone number and 16 unfortunately Reverend Cotes, Mark Cotes, who I think many 17 of you know, had to actually go to -- I think he was also 18 not only driving his mother to the funeral, I think he was 19 officiating at the funeral, so he had to be there. Please 20 give us a call. The other aspect that I think is very 21 important and I've noted when I used to work for the City 22 many years ago a lot of these things, you say you're going 23 to do things and things don't happen. Well, we're going 24 to ensure that we're going to hire one or two key people 25 from Overtown initially who are going to be out there Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 recruiting employees, potential employees, getting people on a one-to-one basis to make -- insure they're in the job programs for this project going out and finding people in Overtown who are qualified and help them make them qualified for these units. We will start that this fall. It's crucial that this project provide a benefit to the existing Overtown residents. Thank you. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. We're going to have one or two public comments first, then we'll have general comments. Miss Green, you've been waving your hand the whole time he's talking. I do not want you to have a coronary in here, so I'm going to ask you to go to the mic. I don't know what you want to say, but please get up and say it, and Miss Bell, back there has -- you're not -- okay, thank you, Miss Bell. MS. GREEN: Thank you. Commissioner, I have two things to say. CHAIRMAN TEELE address. Your name, your name and MS. GREEN: Rosa Green, 415 Northwest 6th Street. The first question I'd like to ask the gentleman is how many square feet is he talking about 'cause if he's talking about building a little but -- he said you're going to build a thousand, and that's not a lot of space there, so how many feet are you talking, square feet are Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 169 1 you talking about? 2 MR. SCHWARTZ: Per unit -- 3 MS. GREEN: One and two -- are you going to have 4 three bedroom? One, two and three or just -- 5 MR. SCHWARTZ: Yeah, no, we're going to have one, 6 two and three and maybe a few studios, but we're talking 7 about -- since the condos, there are larger units and 8 generally speaking I think a one bedroom would be in the 9 range of 750 to 900 square feet. Two bedroom would be 900 10 to 1100 square feet, and it's going to vary, and a three 11 bedroom will be probably up to 1400, 1500 square feet, 12 possibly. This is -- if you look, these are good size 13 units. 14 MS. GREEN: They are very small. You have to get 15 in the bed to make up the bed. I guess -- I mean, seven 16 -- I mean, 900 square feet for two bedrooms, that's very, 17 very small. So I mean, why would you just crowd a whole 18 bunch of people in there and charge that amount of money, 19 but later for that. The next question I have is for you, 20 too. Now, item four approval -- 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Green, Miss Green -- 22 MS. GREEN: You said we're going to vote on this. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, no, but that's not up right 24 at this moment. Before we finish we'll discuss all of 25 those items. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 170 1 MS. GREEN: Because it's about the Crosswinds. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, yes, ma'am. Just give us 3 a few minutes. 4 MR. BENJAMIN BROWN: My name is Benjamin Brown 5 and I reside at 218 Northwest 14th Terrace. Listening to 6 Matthew Schwartz -- 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Pull that down a little bit for 8 you. 9 MR. BROWN: Listening to Matthew Schwartz, I've 10 heard this before. Back in the seventies when I was 11 co-chairman with Reverend Johnson of the Overtown Advisory 12 Committee, I heard this from Matthew Schwartz and Brenda 13 Rivers and how they were going to revitalize the Overtown 14 area. It was a failure then and most likely it will be a 15 failure again. I think the people here need to take some 16 kind of an advice from me because I don't see how in the 17 world you're going to have homes selling for $100,000 and 18 people in the area are going to be qualifying and you're 19 going to have maybe two or three people that are -- would 20 be able to buy these homes for $40,000. I've heard this 21 before. People, be careful. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, sir, come right up. 23 Thank you for your comments. 24 MR. REGINALD CHARLES MUNNINGS: Good evening. My 25 name is Reginald Charles Munnings. I live at 1130 Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 171 1 Northwest 2nd Avenue apartment 302. I'm a long time 2 resident of Overtown. As I said before at the last 3 meeting I was here, I think this is a very good idea what 4 these people are trying to do for our community. As I 5 said before also that they are not tearing anything down; 6 they are building something up. These are vacant lands 7 and there's nothing on these lands. They are not taking 8 away, they are adding to something. I know there's a 9 problem with people being able to afford them. There's 10 always going to be a problem like that in the world, but 11 we're all about progress. I may not be able to afford one 12 of them, but I'm still a resident of the area and I'd like 13 to see the area being beautified. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 15 MR. MUNNINGS: And I thank these people. They 16 deserve a profit and the community deserves a profit and 17 so does the City. 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, listen. Let me -- 19 let's try to understand, and let me -- I don't know if Mr. 20 McKnight is going to make any comments as the Chairman of 21 the Overtown Advisory Board, but there are three or four 22 issues that are very important and it piggybacks on what 23 everybody said; first Miss Green and everybody, everybody 24 can't speak for Overtown. You all elect -- hold on now. 25 Hold -- you all elect an Overtown Advisory Board. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 172 1 Primarily Miss Green, I know you've got some concerns and 2 we are going to sit down and you and I and the Board are 3 going to sit down and try to clear some of those concerns 4 up. But the Board has existed -- you were on the Board in 5 what, 1970 what? 6 MS. GREEN: 1972. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: 19, Vice Chairman in 1972, so 8 this Board -- we've had -- this Board is elected by the 9 residents of Overtown primarily. There are two 10 appointments. I think the Mayor makes an appointment and 11 I make an appointment, but the primary membership is 12 elected. One of the first things we got to understand is 13 this everybody can't be in charge at the same time. Now, 14 there's a real danger here when you start talking about 15 money. The amount of money that's on the table in the 16 first phase is about $150 to $200 million. $150 to $200 17 million. You know and I know what happens when that kind 18 of money starts getting thrown around. I would not make 19 any comments about this development team. They have the 20 highest character, but we have all been black all of our 21 lives, those of us that have been black or are black, and 22 we know what happens. Now, one of the items that I'm very 23 concerned about is people coming up saying I speak for 24 Overtown. Everybody who lives in Overtown can speak for 25 themselves in Overtown. However, there's only one Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 173 1 Overtown Advisory Board which is chartered for 30 years 2 now speaking for Overtown and I think it's important and I 3 do not agree with this young man 75 percent of the time -- 4 put it on the record, my dear colleague Mr. McKnight, but 5 he is a representative and it's important that Mr. 6 McKnight, based upon a Board vote, be recognized as one of 7 the people who will be speaking for Overtown. Anybody can 8 come and speak about Overtown, anybody who lives -- 9 whether you live in Overtown or not, but the danger we got 10 right now is people are coming up right now saying I speak 11 for Overtown, and that's just the Willy Lynch 101; divide 12 everybody up and have everybody going in 100 different 13 directions. So one of the items that we are talking 14 about, Miss Green, you're not going to agree with me. I 15 know you're not going to agree with me, I know, but I 16 think it's very important that we register our views that 17 we don't want everybody saying I'm speaking for Overtown, 18 okay, and in that regard there are two people elected by 19 the Overtown residents to speak for Overtown that I know 20 about; the Overtown Advisory Board and the District 5 21 Commissioner, so that's one of the items on the agenda. I 22 saw in the newspaper the other day -- not to cast any 23 aspersions on anybody, but when individuals -- whether it 24 be the Net Office or the Planning Staff from Overtown or 25 the police commander, all of these people may have a role Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 174 1 but they can -- they cannot speak for Overtown, and I 2 think it's very important that if the Net Administrator 3 for example wants to speak for Overtown he stands up and 4 say I am the Net Administrator and I'm speaking from my 5 point of view, and if anybody else wants to do that, stand 6 up and speak from your point of view, but do not let 7 people start saying I speak for Overtown because what's 8 going to happen is nobody is going to get heard and so 9 that's one of the issues I think that is on the agenda for 10 your consideration. Before we start, Miss Green, hold on 11 just one minute. Let's talk about the real issue here 12 because you've heard a lot of nice words and I am trying 13 very hard to support the development concept, but let's be 14 clear and -- have a seat, Miss Green, please. I don't 15 want to make you have a heart attack. Somebody give her a 16 seat there. Miss Green, just sit down a minute. Please, 17 Miss Green, I'll respect you but just give me a minute. 18 Let's be real clear and let's let everybody hear what I as 19 your elected Commissioner am saying; this project of 1000 20 units is being built on land that is vacant. How the land 21 got vacant is a whole other story and it's an important 22 story not to lose sight of because this land if we were 23 native Americans and if we were Indians they do would not 24 let anything be built on this; would be called sacred 25 land. This would be called tribal land. But we are not Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 175 1 native Americans, we are African Americans. Please. And 2 we understand that some development must happen, but it 3 does tear at the very fabric of my heart to see the land 4 of the Mary Elizabeth Hotel, the lands of important 5 grocery stores and pharmacies, et cetera, being paved over 6 to be built for something. I had a hand in this. I will 7 admit it. In 1980 when I went to Washington, I gave money 8 back to Miami. Three of the lots were grants from me as 9 the Undersecretary of Transportation. Can you go back and 10 read the Miami Times '82, 181, 182, 183. I had a big Afro 11 and I gave the City, you know, millions of dollars to try 12 to work toward the redevelopment of Overtown. The land is 13 there. It's parking lots. It's vacant. It's not going 14 to move anybody out. The City is in a development binge 15 right now and something's going to get built there whether 16 you like it or not, whether I like it or not, because it's 17 a parking lot. We've already lost that battle. Now, the 18 question is one, what's going to be built there? This 19 developer, Mr. Feldman, is in my mind one of the toughest 20 men I've ever dealt with across the table. He makes no 21 -- no secret about the fact that he is not here to save 22 souls. He's leaving that to the churches. He's going to 23 work with the churches, he said. He's not here to do 24 association programming. He said he'll work with them. 25 He is here to make a profit, and I respect that. He's Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 176 1 proposing to build 1,000 units. Of those 1,000 units, at 2 least 800 to 900 are going to be white folks and Cubans. 3 They are going to gentrify the hell out of Overtown. 4 Let's be real clear about that. Their own numbers say 5 that. Their own numbers say at least -- their own numbers 6 state two things; number one, 20 percent of the units will 7 be set aside, and that's a misnomer but on a first -come 8 first -serve if nobody else does it. 20 percent of the 9 units are roughly 200. This is easy mathematics 1,000 10 units, 20 percent, 200; 10 percent, 100; 5 percent, 50. 11 20 percent of the units will be set aside for former 12 Overtown residents, but if no former Overtown residents 13 come there is no requirement that they have to hold those 14 units. I'm believing that the Overtown Advisory Board, 15 the CDCs, the Collins Center and people like yourselves 16 will come out and you will call your grandsons or your 17 nephews. Some of them may be in the Bahamas, some may be 18 in New York. They may want to come back and say here's 19 your birth right, you have a right to claim these units, 20 and we're talking seriously about how we are going to 21 prove that these were people who formerly lived in 22 Overtown. We talk about the heirs of Overtown and a heir 23 could be a grand cousin. He -- all they got to do is 24 prove that their great grand uncle lived there. Didn't 25 have to live there for a year, just live there. Prove it. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 177 1 But we know who lived in Overtown. We know from the day 2 Mr. Flagler brought -- came to the railroad and Dorothy 3 Fields, don't get upset, I'll let you get a history but we 4 know from the time Mr. Flagler brought the railroad here 5 in 1896 when Mount Zion and Greater Beth El were 6 organized, we know who lived in Overtown. It was a 7 colored town, in fact, so when we talk about the heirs of 8 Overtown, this is not to discriminate against white folks 9 or Cubans but we talking now about the history of Overtown 10 and they have committed to 80 -- 20 percent of those units 11 will be put in a pool on a first -come first -serve basis, 12 and with some modifications for them but there's no 13 assurance that any of those units will go. If they have 14 the money if they come up -- and there's going to be some 15 affordability issues that have been set aside that are 16 built into the contract that will be inducement that way 17 to encourage people by those units being a little cheaper 18 and there are going to be -- there'll be promise programs 19 which they're going (unintelligible) will be counting on 20 the City to come up with the money to get those people in 21 those units. To be honest, of the 20 percent, 35 of the 22 20 percent, 5 percent -- I'll state it a different way. 23 Of the 100 percent, 20 percent will be those former 24 Overtown. Within that is 5 percent or 50 units that will 25 be set aside for current Overtown residents, okay. That's Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 IL:I 1 50 units at the end of the day, folks. The only real 2 commitment that I have been able to discern at this point 3 and that we all have agreed on is that there is a real 4 commitment that 50 out of 1,000 of those units will be a 5 African American, will be Overtown residents, current 6 Overtown resident. And as far as I am concerned, that's 7 the real commitment. And I will be very candid with you 8 about this; a number of foundations, a number of 9 organizations have said that they will take those units 10 now. He's not donating these units, okay. What he said 11 is that 50 units will be set aside, not given away. So 12 let's be real -- 13 (End of CD 43.) 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- real clear. Will be set 15 aside and held for Overtown residents. A very firm and -- 16 and close way, and which I think the City and foundations 17 and others are committed to making sure that happens. 50 18 of a thousand is 5 percent. Now, the whole issue in my 19 minds is very simple. I have no objections to the 20 development, but I do have a strong objection to what Mr. 21 Schwartz called fair market value. We have never sold any 22 lands in the City using fair market value. Sounds normal, 23 doesn't it? Sounds good. That's a trick. We use a 24 different criteria, and Mr. Attorney, what is the standard 25 we have used for all of the property to date that we have Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 179 1 sold in Overtown? 2 MR. VILLACORTA: Highest and best use. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Highest and best use. The 4 difference between fair market value and highest and best 5 use could very well be let's say a minimum of $7 million 6 and probably upwards of $20 million, could be. Maybe $30 7 million. Nobody wants to even deal with it. So in effect 8 what the developer is doing and what the City, the Mayor's 9 office and the City has tentatively agreed to -- the City 10 hasn't voted on anything, the City management -- is to 11 subsidize the gentrification of Overtown by giving the 12 land at a substantially lower price than Jackson Soul Food 13 paid for the lot they own. They paid highest and best 14 use. In fact, the lot that Jackson Soul food bought will 15 be higher -- will be paying more than the value, than the 16 price that these people are paying, if you can believe 17 that. I'm going to say that again. That lot that the 18 Miami Herald wrote me up about time after time after time 19 that we sold to Jackson Soul food on a highest and best use 20 basis is a higher price per square foot in the interior of 21 Overtown than what the City is negotiating to sell this 22 land, this historic land, this sacred land to the 23 developer for to gentrify Overtown. I can't live with 24 that. I cannot live with giving away land at a lower 25 price than the fair market value or the highest and best Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 use value because then I have to answer the question is 2 there two systems of law in this country? Is there one 3 for black people and one for white people? And so I mean 4 I'm just putting it out here so everybody can understand 5 what the issues are, because I'm telling you people are 6 being paid to distort the record. People are being paid 7 that look like you and me to come out here with a whole 8 lot of foolishness and mess, which candidly -- and those 9 of you that know me know I am not going to tolerate it. I 10 am not going to tolerate it. I am going to speak up for 11 what I believe. Not everybody -- everybody is entitled to 12 their opinions. I am putting it out here people are being 13 paid to distort what's really going on. Anybody who 14 doesn't understand, this is not about all of the nice 15 words. This is about one thing, folks. It's about money. 16 It's about money, and it's nothing wrong with that. This 17 is America. But somewhere along the line we have got to 18 stand -- I have got to got to stand to ensure that if 19 there's money going around, some of that money comes to 20 the benefit of the residents and the future residents and 21 the historic residents of Overtown, and what -- and so 22 what I have offered to you as a referendum is two issues. 23 First and foremost, the land that we're talking about is 24 parking lots. Parking lots for who? Parking lots for the 25 Miami Arena? Well, the Miami Arena is no longer being Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 181 1 used as an arena so there is very little parking there but 2 parking lots at 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. for 3 who? For the Longshoremen. The Longshoremen's Union that 4 is the cornerstone of virtually every church in this City, 5 and there's not a pastor in this City starting with Mount 6 Zion that has a Longshoreman in that union -- in the 7 church will not acknowledge that Longshoremen are a very 8 important part of the economic fiber of the historic and 9 the current black community. I cannot allow the 10 Longshoremen's Union to be forced out of Overtown because 11 of development. I'm not going to allow that. Because 12 they have to have a parking somewhere, someplace, and it 13 needs to be better organized and it should have been 14 better organized sometime ago. So one of the things that 15 I am putting on this developer, the Mayor and everybody 16 else is before we do any real development deals there has 17 got to be a plan for the Longshoremen parking and that of 18 the Lyric Theatre parking because it doesn't make sense to 19 build a theatre the way Dr. Fields and the Black Archives 20 are doing and not have adequate parking, and we're going 21 to be running through the grass and walking through the 22 sand in high heels and I guess women in stockings with no 23 place to park. That's not -- that doesn't even make 24 business sense, and so one of the items on referendum, 25 item number 6, is that we are demanding -- I am demanding Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 that the Longshoremen and the Lyric Theatre have parking 2 as a condition prior to any of the development really 3 going, a plan for their parking, and the other item is 4 very important and this is -- this is the -- this is the 5 business issue, folks, that you need to pay attention to. 6 If the value of the land is what the Mayor of the City of 7 Miami and this developer have agreed on, which is $6.9 8 million based upon -- fair market value is not the true 9 value of the land at the highest and best use, which I 10 believe to be let's just say for sake of discussion $20 11 million -- just for the sake of discussion, whatever the 12 spread is needs to go into a fund for the benefit of 13 Overtown residents in perpetuity, forever. Let us not 14 give away this land, let us not give away this land or let 15 this land be transferred or sold without the residents of 16 Overtown getting something. Look, 50 residents are going 17 to get something, but to me that's symbolic. That's good. 18 I'm not against anything that this developer has proposed, 19 but -- 20 percent for former Overtown residents coming 20 back, I'm for that. I'm not against that. But what I'm 21 saying is 50 years from now your grandchildren need to be 22 able to drive by these developments and look at these 23 beautiful people that will be walking around on like they 24 do on Brickel, looking like they do on Brickel, and say 25 this is where the Mary Elizabeth Hotel was built and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 183 1 because these development came here this fund is here to 2 help educate children or to send kids to college or to do 3 certain kinds of things or to provide programming for the 4 Lyric Theatre which (unintelligible) folks will be my 5 number one issue; educational scholarships and programming 6 for the Lyric Theatre would be if I could create this 7 fund, but I'm appealing to you to support me to demand 8 that a multi -million -dollar fund, trust fund be set up in 9 perpetuity so that whatever the spread of the value of the 10 land that this developer will come up with -- and a 11 majority of the Commission vote will support at a price -- 12 at a price higher than $6.9 million -- be put into a fund 13 in perpetuity for the residents of Overtown. Those are 14 the three issues that I have asked you to certify and to 15 voice your support or opposition to the position that I'm 16 taking, and by -- and the right of the Overtown Advisory 17 Board to be able to speak on this after a vote and the 18 right of everybody to come down and talk. Now, I would 19 like to entertain any questions, comments or criticisms 20 regarding my remarks from any member of the Overtown 21 community. Hold on just one minute. Yes, ma'am. Yes, 22 sir. 23 MS. GREEN: Hold on. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on one minute. Yes, ma'am. 25 You put your hand up first. Yes, sir. Three, four, five. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 L M 1 Miss Green, you'll be number five. Sir, you'll be number 2 six. 3 MS. GREEN: I was here first. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, but you monopolizing. Let 5 others -- let other people speak that haven't spoken. Mr. 6 Masonic, Mr. Masonic, you're number two. Ma'am, you were 7 number three. Just line up so we can go right in. Yes, 8 ma'am. 9 MS. VELMA EASON: Yes, good morning. Velma 10 Eason, 411 Northwest 6th Street. Been there about eight 11 years, eight or nine years. The question I have, fair 12 market value versus the highest and best use, the figures 13 that you spoke 6.9 million versus 20 million or whatever 14 that is, where -- how are these being established? What -- 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, very simple; the fair 16 market value as Mr. Schwartz correctly said is a number 17 that the seller -- that the buyer has proposed based upon 18 -- based upon what they are proposing to build. In other 19 words, the buyer is establishing that price based upon 20 what he or they propose to build. They are proposing to 21 build 1,000 units. When the $6.9 million was established, 22 the actual fair representation would be they were 23 proposing to build 600 units; is that right, Mr. Feldman? 24 It was 600 units on those four blocks that we're talking 25 about, and that number comes from if they built 600 units Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 185 1 on those four blocks they would pay the City $6.9 million, 2 and that's the number that the Mayor and the management 3 had tentatively accepted, which I've rejected. I have 4 said two things; first, now they're proposing to build 5 1,000 units on that, so obviously that number is going to 6 go up by something, whether it's one million or four 7 million or five million. On the fair market value, 8 however, I have said this; using fair market value is not 9 the manner in which we have appraised lands anywhere in 10 the City. Since I have been a City Commissioner or County 11 Commissioner, we've always used the highest and best use 12 valuation. That valuation is being done now. That 13 valuation will speak for itself. I'm representing that I 14 think it would be north of let's say $15 to $20 million, 15 in that range, and all I'm saying is whatever -- whatever 16 number that can be agreed upon by three Commissioners that 17 is higher than $6.9 million needs to be put in a trust 18 fund for the benefit of Overtown residents. 19 MS. EASON: What about the value of Poinciana 20 Village, which is right there? What kind of value that 21 has been? 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, that's in the four blocks 23 that we're talking about, and what we're talking about 24 will be the vacant strip of land for which a development 25 plan and order was issued, and that is for the 100 -- and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 it's for the 96 or 104 units on the multi -level -- was it 2 96 or -- what was it, Mr. White? 91 units? So based upon 3 that, but that plan has already been approved some years 4 ago and this developer would be basically standing in the 5 shoes of the old development team. 6 MS. EASON: Okay. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 8 MS. EASON: Thank you. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Next question. Yes, sir, Mr. 10 Masonic. Those people that have spoken, just give us a 11 chance. Del, you're next. 12 MR. EL' AMIN: Richard E1' Amin from the New 13 Providence Lodge. First of all, I want to commend your -- 14 what you're doing in fighting for us and being in the 15 fight for us when we are not around. I think that in the 16 past we haven't had that from many Commissioners but you 17 have been a lion for us. If you're going to -- if Jack 18 had to pay the use value for that land, then I don't think 19 because this is a developer that he should be allowed to 20 come into our -- to our area and to get it for a cheaper 21 value. If the value is going to -- like you say, is six -- 22 is -- they're trying to offer six million and that's 23 cheaper than what it's supposed to be, then that's not 24 fair. That's not fair to the residents who has to pay 25 more and can't afford it. A big developer that can afford Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 187 1 it should be -- should be paying what it costs. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Thank you very much. 3 Yes, sir. 4 MR. BRYAN: Mr. Chairman, thank you, sir. There 5 is a lot of fear about this whole program and you know you 6 brought an issue to the table here and my mind always asks 7 what's the other side of the coin. If the highest and 8 best use was an additional $20, where would the units that 9 get being built, where would they end up in terms of cost? 10 What would they cost and would that then not make it even 11 less affordable for those of us who live here and would 12 like to stay here? That would guarantee gentrification a 13 lot faster. We do know that at those price ranges -- 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Are you asking me the question? 15 I'll respond. 16 MR. BRYAN: Yes. Okay, go ahead, sir. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let me tell you how I see it, 18 and that's a fair statement. The value of the land, you 19 say if they pay more, if the developer pays more or state 20 it -- let's state it the right way. If the developer pays 21 what the market rate is for the land, it's going to raise 22 the value, it's going to raise the pricing of the units. 23 That's a true statement, and my position is I'm not 24 prepared to fight for those 800 to 900 non Overtown white 25 people and Hispanic people at the expense of the Overtown Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 .., 1 black Hispanic and whites that are already here, and so to 2 me it's just a trade-off. Are you going to basically -- 3 are you basically going to subsidize people to come into 4 Overtown and are you going to subsidize people to come 5 into -- 800 to 900 people to come into Overtown? Are you 6 going to basically say if you come into Overtown you're 7 going to come at fair market value? I choose to say they 8 are going to come at fair market value. I may not be 9 right. I mean, it may -- my -- I respect the fact that 10 you may have a different point of view, but I can tell you 11 this; if you watch what's going to happen now, that's 12 going to play out very quickly. One block away at the 13 Miami Arena right here. The lowest bid price that has 14 been established is $25 million for this piece of land, 15 assuming that the building is bulldozed, okay. The 16 bidders -- the City has approved an auction at a highest 17 and best use for this piece of land based upon not the 18 building but the dirt at $25 million. The people that buy 19 this I can assure you will build residential units around 20 it. And those units are going to be based upon the 21 market. Why does Overtown have to be treated differently? 22 If you want to build in Overtown I'm saying fine, build, 23 but don't ask the residents and the community of Overtown 24 to subsidize the development. Stated another way, don't 25 ask them to subsidize the gentrification because we're Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 talking now about your raising the issue of the Overtown 2 residents but we've already established there's only 50 3 units going to be set aside for the Overtown residents. 4 They are going to be taken down at whatever price -- at 5 whatever price. The City is guaranteeing that, so we're 6 talking now about another potential 100 units, so what's 7 your -- 150 units total maximum, so what you're basically 8 suggesting, Del, is that we should let -- for the benefit 9 of those 150 units, we should basically give up on any 10 type of support for the people who are remaining in 11 Overtown who are not going to be affected. You know and I 12 know, Del, that the vast number of people that live in 13 Overtown will never live in those units. 14 MR. BRYAN: Mr. Chairman, I beg to disagree. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So you think the vast number of 16 people in Overtown will live in those units? There are 17 9,000 people living in Overtown -- 18 MR. BRYAN: The population of Overtown cannot 19 presently repopulate all the lands that's available. We 20 have to start somewhere. What I'm saying, and we have 21 been doing some work in this regards, that there are many 22 ways to get people to afford the $150,000 houses and we're 23 -- we would invite you to put your genius to work here -- 24 is how can we bring that to the table too? 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I wanted to bring that to the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 190 1 table, but the first thing is this; they are going to ask 2 for and I am going to support on top of everything that we 3 are talking about a subsidy of $45,OOO to $60,000 for 4 every Overtown resident from the City. The same way we do 5 in Model Cities right now where we have the single family 6 homeowner program for scattered site houses. If you get 7 lined up for a house, the City writes a check for $45,000 8 to $60,000 to support that. This developer is going to be 9 asking for that subsidy as well. Now, on the land that we 10 did at the Bobby Medura Stadium, I put a proviso on that 11 land that says we will sell you this lands at this price 12 provided you accept that there will be no subsidies for 13 anybody moving into this or any more City money. Your 14 developer is not going to want that, so be very careful 15 what you wish for. If you ask me to -- if I lose on this 16 issue, trust me, there will be no City subsidies being 17 provided to support this developer. He's got to do it on 18 his own, and as it relates to affordable housing, because 19 you can't have it both ways, if you get a subsidy on the 20 land you can't get a subsidy on the unit because now 21 you're asking for two subsidies. 22 MR. BRYAN: Well, my reference was for subsidies 23 available outside of just the City. There's Federal 24 monies and there's an expert in the house from LIS, (sic) 25 Dennis Russ. Perhaps he could instruct us some more on Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 191 1 that. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, he's not going to instruct 3 us in this meeting but -- this is my meeting right now, so 4 we're not going to start bringing your consultants in. I 5 respect LIS. If LIS wants to come and help, they need to 6 meet with Mr. Raulson from the manager's office and a 7 whole bunch of other people. Yes, sir. 8 MR. JOHN HALL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. 9 McKnight. My name is John Hall, 7365 Southwest 132nd 10 Street. I'm here today representing the Black Archives 11 and (unintelligible). And with your indulgence, Mr. 12 Chairman, I'd like to use the five minutes that were 13 allocated to CDCs for this comment because it's related to 14 the Crosswinds deal and to these three issues. First -- 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I don't like it, but I'm going 16 to do it. I don't want somebody else to come by and say 17 oh, you let him do it. 18 MR. HALL: I appreciate it. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So we make an exception not for 20 you but for Dr. Fields. 21 MR. HALL: I understand. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 23 MR. HALL: And I'd like to start by saying that 24 the reason I'm here and the reason I am involved with the 25 Black Archives is because of Dr. Fields and her dream for Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 192 1 the Folk Life Village, and she is the keeper of the flame 2 and the one who created this plan and I want to just 3 briefly describe of the ten components of what used to be 4 a village concept is now turning into a plan. I want to 5 describe four elements of the plan that benefit residents 6 of Overtown. The first is 200 jobs of which 49 would be 7 jobs in a hotel that black people would own -- 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I can't let you do that. If 9 you're going to do that -- because see, now you're 10 confusing apples and oranges. We're talking about this 11 development, you're talking about a hotel that's not even 12 a part of what we're talking about. You got to respect 13 the referendum process. I'll let you come right up next, 14 John, but let's don't start confusing apples and oranges 15 because the hotel is not a part of what we're getting 16 ready to vote on, not a part this development and now I 17 know there are no 200 jobs for hotels in the four blocks 18 that we're talking about now. 19 MR. HALL: Okay. Well, if I may, then, I'll just 20 speak to the Crosswinds deal because it is -- 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: The four blocks? 22 MR. HALL: The four blocks. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Limit it to the four blocks. 24 MR. HALL: Yes, the four blocks. It is our view 25 that what is good for the goose can also be good for the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 193 1 gander, and I'm speaking here from John Hall. This is not 2 something that's been approved by the Black Archives, but 3 -- 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you just lost your right 5 to speak. You see, that's what I'm saying. No, you're 6 going to have to hold that, sir. Let's focus in on this 7 one issue and then we'll come right to that, John, but 8 what I don't want to do is get people confused right now. 9 This is about Crosswinds and their deal. Let's don't -- 10 don't jump on that ship; it may sink and it may swim, so 11 Miss Green, you're -- I have been very rude to you. I 12 want to apologize because you've asked to be heard five 13 times. John, don't go anywhere, but let's just stay on 14 this Crosswinds thing, please. 15 MS. GREEN: I know the audience might be sick of 16 me but y'all don't know what I've been through. I'm 17 probably -- other than Miss Sawyer -- the oldest 18 Overtowner that is in the house, so I'm just frustrated 19 and upset because we've heard all these great things and 20 saw all these beautiful pictures and that's as far as it 21 get. But now let me just set the record straight with 22 that Sun Post. Are they in the house today, the writer 23 for Sun Post? Because they misquoted me on a issue to the 24 last meeting that we had -- 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Don't worry about it. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 194 1 MS. GREEN: They said something that Miss Green 2 said they are going to build the building and not give 3 anything to Overtown. I did not say that and I am glad 4 that you did recall that meeting. I want this to be very 5 clear. I am for the development of the Crosswinds. 6 Whatever they want to do I would welcome it. I'm sorry, 7 Commissioner. I will welcome any kind of development in 8 Overtown because as far as I know and I got to bring this 9 up right quick and I know I shouldn't but the Chapman 10 House, the Lyric Theatre has been -- they being every line 11 getting running for over 20 years and it's still not 12 built. So if these people are bringing something to the 13 table and going to build something in Overtown, then we 14 need to get ready for it and then they are not going to 15 build it right away so while they are trying to get it 16 built we can get qualified to do whatever we have to do, 17 and I'm going to tell you I'm going to be in Overtown if I 18 have to go down to Camillus house because y'all truly 19 respect those people and I have some mattresses and I 20 don't intend to leave. So speaking of gentrification, all 21 you want -- and I think that's why Dr. King died. He died 22 that we could come together, and I could think of no 23 better way, whether it be Protestant, Jew, Gentile, 24 Chinese or whatever living in the building, they going to 25 be in their house and I'm going to be in my house. So I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 195 1 would love to see them come together. Maybe we will have 2 a cleaner community, because we now have a garbage can 3 community. So let me just say this right quick, and I use 4 mortgage as a synonym for rent. Believe me, if you don't 5 pay your mortgage you going to get put out and if you 6 don't pay your rent you're going to get put out. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. 8 MS. GREEN: So there is no difference. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 10 MS. GREEN: So now -- 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you, Miss Green. 12 MS. GREEN: Let's get stop knocking stuff and be 13 ready and welcome it, because I'm sick and tired, and let 14 me just say this in reference to the one you want to speak 15 for Overtown; I can work with a snake if somebody hold its 16 head. I have no problem with that, but you have to 17 respect me if you want me to respect you. I'm a 18 74-year-old woman. You cannot get in my face 'cause I 19 don't allow my children to curse and I try not to curse 20 nobody and curse me out because I don't agree with you. 21 No, if you want respect and you going to do it in a honest 22 way -- he's very knowledgeable. He knows all the ins and 23 out of Overtown and yet he's a new kid on the block as far 24 as I'm concerned because I was here walking the street 25 barefoot and I said 74 so that means I been around a long Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 196 1 time. So now let me tell you; we should welcome any kind 2 of development in Overtown, and those people who talking 3 about Overtowners speaking for Overtown, they don't even 4 live over here and that's why we need to postpone and try 5 to have this meeting when more people from Overtown will 6 have a voice in it, Commissioner. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am. 8 MS. GREEN: We talking to the sponges now who 9 come and sponge off of Overtown and give nothing back. 10 Thank you. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you, Miss Green. All 12 right, Miss Green, I hope that you're not referring to me, 13 the person you are insulting. 14 MS. GREEN: No. You have never -- 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you need to clear that up 16 on the record, Miss Green. You need to say that on the 17 record 'cause see, somebody reading the records -- 18 MS. GREEN: I am not talking about Commissioner 19 Teele. He might curse me behind my back, but he hasn't 20 done it to my face, and if he did, I'll be down to see 21 Miami Herald. I might have to do like Ann Marie Acker; 22 sue some people to get some things done over here. Thank 23 you. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you, Miss Green. I just 25 -- you know, the record gets read a year later, two years Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 197 1 later and da da da. Thank you very much again for being 2 here. 3 All right, we're going to end with these two and then 4 we're going to go on to some other aspects. Yes, sir. 5 MR. BROWN: First of all, I'd like to say that I 6 agree with the Commissioner but I'd like to ask a couple 7 of questions here because I'm not familiar with Crosswinds 8 even though I have lived in this community all my life. 9 What I am hearing is that this land is going to be donated 10 to Crosswinds and if they make a profit they pay the City 11 of Miami. Is that what I'm hearing? 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, no. Let me clarify it. The 13 lands is currently owned by the CRA. The City of Miami 14 purchased the land, the City transferred the land to the 15 CRA as they transferred most of the City property. The 16 developer -- and just bear with me for one minute because 17 I think it's important to clarify two records -- the 18 developer-- the CRA and the City are in a lawsuit with a 19 developer about these four pieces of land. Actually two 20 different developers, but the same person. This developer 21 Crosswinds is coming in saying I want to settle the 22 lawsuit between the CRA and the two development entities, 23 one developer, Mr. Weitzel, and I am proposing to pay the 24 City/CRA $6.9 million to -- for the right to move forward 25 and develop these four blocks of land. The $6.9 million Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 Um 1 is based upon a concept that is well recognized but rarely 2 used in this kind of situation. The concept is fair 3 market value. In most situations -- in every situation to 4 date the City and the CRA have sold land, they have sold 5 land at highest and best use value. The difference 6 between fair market value and highest and best use is 7 substantial. It's substantial millions of dollars. 8 Whether it's 4 million or 10 million or 15 to 20 million 9 we don't know at this point, but we will know, so that's 10 sort of what is being discussed. So that it's clearly 11 disclosed here with everybody understanding -- Jay, don't 12 leave. The $6.9 million, of the 6.9, 6.4 million of the 13 6.9 will be paid to the developer Mr. Weitzel and his team 14 to -- for his costs and his injuries, and this settlement, 15 would be a fair way to say it. So the City/CRA under the 16 agreement that the Mayor and the management have agreed to 17 would only see $500,000 of the 6.9. 6.4 would go to the 18 previous developer and his development entities and 19 development team. What I'm suggesting is the right number 20 is not 6.9, it's substantially several million dollars 21 higher than that, and whatever that number is that 22 everyone can agree to should be put in perpetuity in 23 trust. In other words, before somebody else comes up with 24 some cute uses of the money, I want to take that money out 25 before somebody else comes up and says I want the money or Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 199 1 the City or the CRA says well, let's do this, let's do 2 that, and to put that money in a perpetual trust for the 3 residents for the benefit of the historic residents of 4 Overtown. Does that answer your question? 5 MR. BROWN: Yes, but -- I agree with you, but 6 you're saying that they are going to put up 6.9 million. 7 The lands is worth a whole lot more, but the City is only 8 going to get $500,000 of it? 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: As the proposal that is on the 10 table now, the answer to that is yes, sir. The other 6.4 11 will go to the previous developer. 12 MR. BROWN: Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, 13 but I agree with what you are saying. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, we're going to ask 15 that the staff pass -- collect the ballots for items 16 number four, five and six, I believe only four, five and 17 six. 18 MR. ROY HARDEMON: Mr. Teele, may I say -- 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on one minute. 20 MR. HARDEMON: Mr. Chair, may I speak? 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on one minute, Mr. -- 22 MR. HARDEMON: Commissioner, Roy Hardemon, 655 23 North 28th Street. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Roy, good to see you here. 25 MR. HARDEMON: Thank you, sir. I just have a Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 i 1 comment based on this Crosswinds deal and what's been 2 happening throughout the urban quarters, Commissioner. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I'm listening. 4 MR. HARDEMON: All right. In this talking about 5 the subsidies to this Crosswinds deal, is the Crosswinds 6 getting any type of HUD dollars for their infrastructure 7 or are they going to cap this thing off, pay for it all 8 themself? 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, the answer to your 10 question is no, they're not getting HUD dollars at this 11 point for infrastructure. Yes -- 12 MR. HARDEMON: Uh-huh. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, they are proposing to take 14 down about $14 million of tax increment funding, which 15 would be a grant from the City of Miami, on top of -- in 16 addition to the sales price, whatever that number is 17 agreed to. 18 MR. HARDEMON: Uh-huh. I asked that question 19 because I just think that the residents of Overtown -- 20 21 (See VOLUME II, consisting of pages 201-330.) 22 23 24 25 Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 201 1 VOLUME II 2 PAGES 201-331 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and 4 gentlemen, you need to hear -- the gentleman just asked a 5 question which really hasn't come up before. Mr. Schwartz 6 made a very veiled reference to it. I'm not trying to -- 7 but I think everybody needs to understand what the deal 8 is. I hope everybody just heard that the developer is 9 also proposing to receive $14 million in tax increment 10 money that is back from the development from the CRA over 11 the -- I think it's the period 2013? 2013. My position 4 12 on that is -- I want everybody to hear this now because 13 see, these numbers are beginning -- you're beginning to 14 understand what my frustration is. My position is I 15 support in concept a tax increment support for this 16 project assuming the developer pays the highest and best 17 use for the land. We have done this for developers 18 before. We just did it in midtown where we provided a 19 subsidy very similar to what they're asking for upwards of 20 let's say roughly $100 million over a 30-year period of 21 time to the developer who's building a one -build 22 development $800 million development. This development at 23 this point is about 150 million, so if you look at the 9 e: 24 math, that is not out of line in the concept. Again, but 25 it's all predicated on in my mind the developer paying the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 202 1 same price that everybody else pays for land or something 2 that approaches that. I will be standing before you if we 3 can agree on this supporting this developer or a mechanism 4 for this developer to receive the benefit of at least $14 5 million of more money in what is called tax increment 6 funding over the period between now and 2013 for an 7 additional $14 to $15 million, but again for me it's one 8 issue; the developer has got to pay something close to 9 what everybody else that we've sold land in Overtown has 10 been required to pay. Now, we've given a lot of land in 11 Overtown for a dollar Mount Zion Greater Beth El, Dr. 12 Fields, Black Archives, and we have the right to do that. 13 But where we have sold land, we have sold land at 110 14 percent. That's what Jackson Soul food paid; 110 percent 15 of the highest and best use value. So it's hard for me to 16 on one hand apply a standard to Overtown residents that is 17 more onerous or more financially than others. So Mr. 18 Hardemon, thank you for your question. 19 MR. HARDEMON: And -- and -- 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But they are not getting a HUD 21 subsidy -- 22 MR. HARDEMON: Okay. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- to speak of as yet, but who 24 knows? I am sure if there's a HUD dollar that can be 25 granted they'll come through the back door as soon as they Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 203 1 get this deal and ask for it and why not I mean I'm not 2 penalizing the developer like I said, this guy is one of 3 the most honest guys that I've ever dealt with he says I'm 4 in this to make money and I respect that. 5 MR. HARDEMON: Commissioner, we want to make -- 6 make sure -- I want to make sure that the residents stand 7 in the front door of that subsidy and when we talk about 8 the ship money, the home money, I don't -- I haven't seen 9 community development in none of these meetings, okay, and 10 these people should be held liable for the residents that 11 we talk about so much; the low income, the low and very 12 low, the ones that don't make the $13,000 to $20,000. We 13 need to make sure that these subsidies -- that the 14 residents have the right to begin to talk about them; not 15 only on this project, on all of these projects. The town 16 parks project we have a serious problem because we have 17 -- we have the less knowledge of how we utilize subsidies 18 and we have the best minds that know how to use them. You 19 all, you all need to begin to really help the residents. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Look -- 21 MR. HARDEMON: Own not only these apartments 22 because it don't have to be 50. If you you've got this 23 type of money in subsidies, we can own 85 percent of these 24 properties, but you got to tell the truth. Thank you. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, Mr. Hardemon, I hope I'll Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 204 always tell you the truth. Look, truth isn't always pretty. First and foremost, we cannot have -- contrary to what you've just put on the record, there's no way and there's no need in confusing people that we going to have 80 percent of this project. If the project is being developed as this developer is doing it based upon the fair market value, that is the fair market value across the board. If that's the case, then we can go and buy anything on Brickel or downtown Miami or anywhere else. This developer -- let's be very clear -- this development is not a subsidized development. This developer is not proposing and Mr. Feldman I need you to come to the table and clarify before people start confusing the record. This is not a subsidized development, folks. This is -- hold on. Wait one minute. This is a market -rate development. Mr. Feldman, you need to put this on the record before people are walking away saying 80 percent and all of the -- of the good -- hold on, Mr. Hardemon. Just hold on. Let Mr. Feldman -- he knows what he's going to build. Are you telling him what he's going to build? MR. HARDEMON: No, I'm not telling him what he's going to build -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Well, let him tell US. MR. HARDEMON: But can I just -- can I tell you Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 205 1 what I was speaking of so you won't distort what I'm 2 saying as far as the development being 80 percent 3 ownership of the people? All I was simply saying to you 4 is that we have abilities to reach out and be able to 5 afford Mr. Feldman or whatever his name is project, but 6 I'm looking to my people -- 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. Hardemon, you are 100 8 percent wrong. The Federal government does not allow you 9 to subsidize and provide subsidies on units that are going 10 to be sold at the rate they're going to be selling them. 11 I cannot take -- and there's no need in me setting up here 12 trying to lead people down the wrong road and start taking 13 subsidies and putting them down on Brickel. 14 MR. HARDEMON: It's done already, sir. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What? Mr. Feldman, are you -- 16 would you please explain that this is a market -rate 17 development that you're proposing with price points that 18 are the same as throughout this City except how you want 19 to -- how you want to place your -- place your price 20 points in terms of a median? 21 MR. FELDMAN: It is a market -rate middle income 22 residential community. It does have a 20 percent 23 set -aside committed to by my company for those who are -- 24 who earn the limits that Matt suggested, rather than not 25 talking about percentages but everybody's aware of that. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 206 1 Now, with -- inside the 20 percent and 50 units on a 2 1,000-unit development specifically set aside for Overtown 3 residents that have a deep, deeper subsidy -- require a 4 deeper subsidy in order to enjoy homeownership -- 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Are you putting that subsidy up 6 or are you looking for the City and other organizations to 7 put the subsidy up? 8 MR. FELDMAN: I think -- Commissioner, I don't 9 know the answer to that today because we are investigating 10 a variety of opportunities that may -- that may very well 11 be presented to us, including -- 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But it's not included in your 13 performer. It's not out of your performer. I mean, I 14 respect -- is MR. FELDMAN: Yes, sir. Yes, sir there are 16 dollars that we would contribute to this. We don't know 17 what those dollars are, obviously. It's going to have to 18 be that way to get it down into -- 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Get it down that low. 20 MR. FELDMAN: To get it down that low. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But you're not committing to set 22 aside 50 that you're going to pay for and make available 23 to the Over -- I just don't want to have -- I'm trying to 24 help you. 25 MR. FELDMAN: No, sir. You were asking am I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 207 1 going to give 50 units; is that what you're asking? 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I want that to be very clear 3 because I don't want people calling you tomorrow saying I 4 want to be one of the 50. Are you committing to those 50 5 that you're going to do it or are you expecting -- 6 MR. FELDMAN: We've committed to that in the 7 contract, sir. Yes, sir. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: That you're going to provide -- 9 Matthew, you better -- you better -- you better help him 10 because he don't want to commit to what he's -- 11 MR. SCHWARTZ: No, the contract's this big -- 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I understand. 13 MR. SCHWARTZ: What it is -- no, what it is is 14 that is committed to have those units there -- 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Available. 16 MR. SCHWARTZ: With another funding source for 17 the deep -- 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: With other funding sources. 19 MR. SCHWARTZ: Right; there will be -- there will 20 be some money coming out of Crosswinds for that to lower 21 the price to make it feasible, but it's basically 22 outside -- 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Steve -- Steve correctly said 24 he's providing a subsidy, but he's not committing to pay 25 for those 50 units, and that's all I'm trying to make sure Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that the public doesn't walk away saying that he said something that he didn't say. MR. FELDMAN: I appreciate that. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Yes, sir. MR. JORDAN: Yeah, Mr. Teele, my name's Al Jordon, 201 Northwest 7th Street unit 202 Poinciana Village. I'm listening to the discussion both pro and con and I think it's very admirable as to the difference between the fair market value and the highest use in terms of dollars and I am understanding that. However, my question runs to there's a gray area that has not in my mind been satisfied. I'd just like to take a retrospect back in history a little bit. There have been many projects that come into the Model Cities area -- the black folks know about these things -- that have not developed or in fact benefitted the masses sufficiently as far as I'm concerned. My question to you is realizing that, you know, your effort is to to craft money for the residents that are going to be left in the Overtown area from this very worthwhile development, it has not been spelled out as to what use that money might go to, how it will be dispersed and the various other gray areas in terms of -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, trust me, trust me on that we have not announced or made a decision because at this point we don't have any money. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 209 MR. JORDAN: Well, you -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: And until a fund can be created -- but -- but we would have a meeting with the Overtown residents, the Overtown Advisory Board. There would be a lot of concentration, but my -- if you want to know my -- MR. JORDAN: Yeah. CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- know my view is that I will tell you my view is that a in-perpetuit trust fund would be set up in which primarily the interest income would be available to be expended each year. The two things that come to mind that I would personally be pushing for very hard would be funding for programs and activities at the Lyric Theatre in perpetuity. You know, you can't -- MR. JORDAN: Okay, I understand. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Have theatre, and every theatre in this country requires some kind of subsidy from somewhere. Doesn't make sense to have a Lyric Theatre that everybody just drives by, you can't go to watch -- so my number one priority, and I have a bias for culture, is to have programming at the Lyric Theatre. My second bias is for higher education for children that live in this Overtown and I would love to see scholarships for kids that are going to college or trade school as a part of the interest income from that type of trust. Those are the kinds of things what I would be opposed to would be Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 210 1 creating some jobs for some people to just have some -- 2 some paper jobs to say that I'm running this 3 organization or that organization; things that really 4 benefit an individual as opposed to a community. But I 5 think the focus should be on children, especially trying 6 to encourage children to get an education and to go 7 forward. 8 MR. JORDAN: I -- I appreciate what you're 9 saying. My only comment has been and is in fact that 10 under the circumstances and what we stand as I see it to 11 gain by allowing Southwind to come in and develop as 12 proposed as -- I'm sorry, Crosswinds as proposed against 13 what you're suggesting is in my mind I'm just not clear on 14 how those proceeds would be used. I know you've just said 15 something, but I believe Crosswinds is -- has taken the 16 time to come forward to present create facts, issues as to 17 what they propose, how it's going to work, and that in my 18 mind -- my feeble mind, there aren't so many gray areas. 19 Perhaps in more advanced minds there may be, but in terms 20 of where other monies is going to go, I believe that yeah, 21 well, after you get the money you can decide what you want 22 to do but I believe you bear a responsibility to the 23 community to develop something -- 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, we will develop -- 25 MR. JORDAN: To put forth and then to say this is Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 211 1 what you are -- we're asking for as opposed to that and 2 this is why we want to increase this; so that we can do 3 this. Not just a so that we gonna have a fund somewhere 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, I -- 5 MR. JORDAN: And that's my -- 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I think you make a very good 7 point, but I think that you have to start somewhere. If 8 there is no fund, then you don't have anything to talk 9 about. The fact of the matter is this; my position is the 10 position that I am going to advocate and I will just say 11 so that it's very clear to everybody; if Crosswinds does 12 wind up with three votes and they pay less than the fair 13 market value I'm going to basically work to ensure that 14 that all of the subsidies that they're asking for are 15 subjected to a very difficult and process because of the 16 fact of the matter is Crosswinds is not just asking for 17 this subsidy. They are -- they're asking for a lot more 18 subsidies and we don't even know what subsidies they're 19 going to be asking for, but I can tell you this; what we 20 put on the Bobby Medura Stadium would basically be the 21 kind of legislation that I would be proposing that would 22 have the support of the other Commissioners because that's 23 what we've done in the past where we give away land at a 24 lower value or where land gets away and we say okay, now 25 it's yours, you develop it in accordance with your plans Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 212 1 but don't keep coming back to us asking us for more money. 2 So I'm willing to entertain additional subsidies to 3 Crosswinds if they pay fair market value. As I said 4 today, I'm willing to support an additional $14 million 5 which by the way could go up to as much as $25 million, so 6 you know -- 7 MR. JORDAN: I hear you. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All of the money shouldn't just 9 go to one entity, and that's Crosswinds. Some of the 10 money should get back into the benefit of the community, 11 and again again I think you -- you need to understand 12 from my point of view if this was just dirt I would -- I 13 may not take this so strongly, but this is Overtown land 14 for which the history of black America and Miami was built 15 on and it's not just dirt. And so I think if people drive 16 by, just like we talked about the colored precinct, that's 17 1950. That precinct is 1950. The land we're talking 18 about was land from 1896, 1897. What year was the Mary 19 Elizabeth built in; 1920 -- 1921. So I mean, we need to 20 keep all of this in perspective. 21 MR. JORDAN: Well, that's -- I understand, but 22 that was my comment. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And I appreciate very much your 24 point of view because you have a very valid point. Yes, 25 sir. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 213 1 MR. DONALD F. BENJAMIN: Yes. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on just a minute. If you 3 have not voted, please do so. If you have a ballot on 4 items number -- what is it? Four, five and six, please 5 raise them so that they can be collected. Go right ahead, 6 Mr. Benjamin. 7 MR. BENJAMIN: My name is Donald F. Benjamin, 8 416 Northwest 6th Street. With respect to referendum 9 four, I need a little clarification before I cast my vote 10 because it seems to me that we are assuming there would be 11 funds from Crosswinds and there is no referendum on 12 Crosswinds as far as I see. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, Crosswinds has represented 14 to me that they have the vote, so I don't want to create 15 an issue that the community can stop -- I don't want to 16 mislead the community by making you believe that you can 17 stop it or make it happen or not. They said they have the 18 vote. The Mayor has said publically that he's going to 19 make it happen. I'm telling you I'm not voting for it 20 until there are some more changes being made, but it's 21 beyond -- at this point it's beyond a referendum to voice 22 that view. Apparently two Commissioners, Commissioner 23 Winton and Commissioner Sanchez have publically said that 24 they are going to vote for Crosswinds with or without any 25 kinds of conditions as one or two people have spoken for, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 214 1 and I respect that right. All I can say is as long as I'm 2 the Commissioner representing this direct, I am going to 3 try and get the best deal that I can for the community 4 that I represent. 5 MR. BENJAMIN: I just wonder whether we should 6 have had the opportunity to cast some sort of vote here. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you will when Crosswinds 8 comes up, and that's how we're going to end this. When it 9 comes up for a vote in the City, I'm going to invite 10 everybody -- I will send everybody a letter indicating my 11 support or opposition to Crosswinds and invite you to come 12 down and cast your vote at City Hall. 13 MR. BENJAMIN: Well, isn't this item a little 14 premature, wouldn't you say? 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, sir not at all, not at all. 16 I'm trying to catch up right now, dog. If they got three 17 votes, I'm trying to get the best deal I can for the 18 community. Yes, ma'am. 19 MS. LINDA WATSON: My name is Linda Watson, 1670 20 Northwest 4th Avenue apartment 12A. I'm sick but I still 21 come to speak up. I don't speak the English very well but 22 I still come and speak up. One question I want to ask 23 you, Mr. Commissioner, is right now the people in Overtown 24 as you know is the poorest people in Miami, the people 25 from Overtown. They can't afford to pay where they're Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 215 1 into, you believe they could paying for a condo for 200 2 and thousand dollar? I sure they couldn't do it, 3 especially me that from one moment to the other I will be 4 in the other world and like me there's plenty of people 5 live where I live. I believe that this is to take we out 6 little by little because that is what happening. They 7 taking out people from Overtown little by little and I 8 will like to stay where I am and like me the rest of lady 9 as old as me said the same thing; that they would like to 10 stay where they are, and I sorry to worry you. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, you're not worrying me. I 12 want to hear your point of view, and I think part of what 13 some of us are saying is that we cannot allow development 14 to take over and consume all of Overtown. I think there's 15 a portion of Overtown that I support development, and 16 candidly I don't -- I haven't said it before because I 17 don't want to sound hostile but, you know, if the City is 18 prepared to have an auction for the Miami Arena for the 19 highest price, I'm prepared to have an auction for that 20 land for the highest price, and all over 6.9 go into a 21 fund. I mean, I've said that, too. I mean, I'm not 22 trying to stop development. I'm for development and I'm 23 for development on these four blocks. I am not for 24 development at the expense of the Overtown residents not 25 receiving any long-term benefit. That's all I'm saying, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 216 1 and all of the benefit the way the deal is being 2 negotiated right now is going for the benefit of the 3 developer. I don't blame the developer. If you can find 4 cheap money -- if you can find cheap land, buy it. I'd 5 buy it, you'd buy it. There's nobody in here -- but 6 somebody, and it falls my lot at this moment, has got to 7 say you can't have the land cheap without putting 8 something back into the community. That's all that I'm 9 saying, and I'm prepared to support additional subsidies 10 for this developer based upon the quality of the product 11 that they're building. They are not building a 12 skyscraper, which they could build, or a 30-story. They 13 are proposing to build primarily 7 to 9 stories that -- 14 with one or two towers that will be 17 stories, 18 15 stories, something that will fit into the community. I 16 mean, I don't mean to give the developer a hard time at 17 all. I think the developer is trying to balance in some 18 ways the uniqueness of Overtown, the history of Overtown 19 with the pure opportunity just to make money, but the fact 20 of the matter is the biggest subsidy that this developer 21 is looking for is from the City of Miami from the CRA both 22 in terms of the value of the lands, the TIF (sic) and 23 other grant opportunities, and I'm not blaming the 24 developer. 25 MS. WATSON: Yeah. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 217 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I was simply saying; one, that 2 this developer, who appears to be a quality developer, has 3 got to put more money into this project to support the 4 people who are not going to be able to move in there from 5 Overtown and, you know, this thing has turned into almost 6 like into a lottery; everybody's waving the 50 -- the 50 7 people who will be in there and saying this is going to 8 benefit Overtown. Well, I don't choose to agree with 9 that. I mean, I think it's going to benefit those 50. I 10 think it's going to be positive. I think it's going to be 11 positive for the City of Miami, the development, but for 12 Overtown per se, these four blocks are not going to 13 benefit Overtown from my vantage point. It's going to 14 gentrify Overtown. In 20 years the Town Hall meetings 15 will not be looking like anything like this. It's going 16 to be a whole different view. The issues are going to be 17 different. They're going to be complaining about the 18 noise from the Longshoremen and where they're parking. 19 They're going to be complaining about this, there's going 20 to want to be other kinds of churches and temples and all 21 of this and you know, and that's all a part of -- you 22 know, you can't freeze time. But what we can do is make 23 sure that those 9,000 to 10,000 and their children that 24 live in Overtown have a way out to move up the ladder, and 25 I'm suggesting that the scholarship funds and those kinds Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 218 1 of things should be made available and so we can all say 2 we're proud of the development. So somebody's living in 3 public housing and let's say face it, the statistics are 4 75, 80 percent of the people in Overtown live in some form 5 of subsidized housing or public housing. We have not even 6 talked about public housing here at all but, you know, 7 that's the core of what's there. Those children should 8 have the right to get out and to go up, and all that I'm 9 saying is I'm not trying to put the whole thing on this 10 developer. We got to work with this developer and other 11 developers to come in and come in with strategies, but at 12 the end of the day my goal as the Commissioner is to say 13 this building is going to be built here and there will be 14 for the next 100 years some benefit that will accrue to 15 the residents, whoever they are in Overtown, the historic 16 residents, whatever they are. And I think the general 17 makes a good point; well, we want to see more definition 18 of what it is. I've said very clearly scholarships, Lyric 19 Theatre. Someone has suggested -- I think the Collins 20 Center has suggested a banking facility such as a credit 21 union. I am not opposed to that. I would be supportive 22 of those kind of things if that's what the community felt 23 would be helpful. But if there's no money, there's 24 nothing talk about. All of this thing becomes an academic 25 theoretical discussion and I don't think that we've got Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 219 1 the cart in front of the horse by having that kind of 2 discussion, so thank you very much and yes, ma'am. 3 MS. WATSON: You asked that gentleman the 4 question. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. 6 MS. WATSON: And he told you that he couldn't 7 answer it today. What mean to say when they finish there 8 will be some change? If he can't answer it today, what 9 mean to say when they finish there's something different 10 will come out? Remember that. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you for your point of 12 view. 13 MR. HARDEMON: Commissioner, can I get a point 14 order? One point of order is about -- is CHAIRMAN TEELE: You can always get a point of 16 order, Brother Hardemon. 17 MR. HARDEMON: It's about the -- the comment on 18 telling the truth. The comment wasn't directed to you. 19 It was directed to the point of having the proper 20 information when it comes down to the subsidies when I was 21 talking about Miss Rodriguez -- 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Right. 23 MR. HARDEMON: -- and her program, HUD. That's 24 what I was talking about; have those type of people to 25 come in and bring the proper information. That's what I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 220 1 meant. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And you make a very good point 3 and I apoligize if I misstated your point of view. 4 MR. MEL REEVES: Commissioner Teele, you make a 5 good point. I think about raising the fact that the 6 Crosswinds people aren't paying -- 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We need to get -- 8 MR. REEVES: Yeah, I gave her my -- Mel Reeves is 9 my name. You make a good point. In fact, to me that's 10 what makes this meeting to me a little more problematic. 11 I mean, if we were going to galvanize the community, it 12 seems to me it would make more sense to have sent out 13 notices for the meeting two weeks ahead of time or a month 14 ago and we could have galvanized the community for a real 15 fight around this, so I'm a little puzzles by, you know, 16 the fact that this was done kind of a last minute deal 17 when you are saying that you have issues with the 18 development, and I agree with you; the onus is not on the 19 developer, the onus is on the City of Miami, and I think 20 if they're giving up tax -- nobody's talking about this -- 21 the tax increment financing, just by the very word taxes, 22 everybody knows that we pay the taxes. It's our money 23 that basically they're going to put back into these guys' 24 program and to a parking lot. So on that level at least 25 from my simple addition, we have some kind of leverage in Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 221 1 this thing, right? So I think what it would behoove you 2 to do is to help us to get what we can out of this, and 3 you keep saying it but I think we ought to talk 4 specifically. For example, I've been working with some 5 folks who already have apprenticeship programs. The South 6 Florida Work Force is talking about creating one, but why 7 do that when we have folks in the Overtown community who 8 work with the -- like the young man spoke earlier, the 9 iron workers, Al Huston with the laborers, the carpenters. 10 They have -- they have apprenticeship programs that are 11 already working and successful. They have members in the 12 neighborhood. Why don't we have these guys put into the 13 contract as folks who can provide the apprenticeship 14 programs that they're saying they want? Why don't we make 15 sure there's a way to maintain these houses. Remember he 16 said in the set aside they're setting aside 200 houses. 17 Now, folks, you all need to understand this; they won't 18 exist forever, and he said earlier they'll be able to sell 19 them back at market rate. Well, we need to maintain these 20 houses. If there's going to be some benefit for Overtown 21 residents, you have to maintain the houses. You can't set 22 aside 50 and allow them to sell it at market rate next 23 year. That won't work. Then you're right; that will be 24 totalling gentrified, so I think we do have pressure 25 points that we can -- that we can leverage the City and I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 222 1 think it behooves you to help organize us, or help 2 organize the community. Call another meeting. Why don't 3 you give people enough time where we can actually have a 4 decent discussion. This is only -- I've counted -- 75 5 folks. This is not really representative of the 6 community, and I think in order to really get this done 7 you've got to call folk out and say this is what we want 8 to have happen. I think people will support you. The 9 other important thing I think you have to do is in years 10 past every time something gets built in this town -- 11 everybody knows this is true -- the paperwork gets 12 written, what we want gets written down, but there's no 13 oversight, and I think again it behooves your office to 14 make sure we have -- help us make sure we have real 15 oversight, have real live people on oversight committee 16 like Irby, people like Del or people sitting around in 17 this room. 18 MS. GREEN: Have sister Rosa. 19 MR. REEVES: Have sister Rosa, people who are 20 serious, who have Overtown's concern at their -- at their 21 heart who are passionate about Overtown ought to be on 22 these. In other words, we'll get everything we want in 23 these contracts, but if nobody's watching, folks, we will 24 look out and watch this Crosswinds development being built 25 by people who don't look like us. Now, somebody tell me Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 223 1 I'm not telling the truth here. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: True, true. 3 MR. REEVES: We need to have real oversight. 4 That's something that we can do. I think we can argue and 5 fuss, but you're right; this thing is coming, so let's get 6 what we can out of this thing. I -- if it was up to me 7 I'd say hey, I don't want any development if it's not 8 going to benefit folks. But it's coming. Let's get what 9 we can out of it. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: If I could just very briefly 11 respond. This development process, I would like for you 12 to think that it's being done in a neat quadrant. The 13 manager and the Mayor and one of the Commissioners had 14 been meeting with the developer I learned about three 15 weeks ago for seven months longer than I even knew that 16 the discussions were being held. I was brought in on the 17 discussions when they had a deal in March and they were 18 preparing to bring that to the commission in March. As 19 late as yesterday at -- it's not funny to me, Mr. Bloom. 20 As late as yesterday at what, one o'clock? The developer 21 and I were negotiating, talking, and a substantial number 22 of changes for the benefit of the community were made. In 23 the presentation that you have here today, for example, if 24 you look at 9th Street, the white parking lot that's there 25 now, the parking lot primarily which we're looking at Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 224 1 where it's on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 9th Street, 2 that was added at one o'clock yesterday to address the 3 issue that the developer is aware that I'm concerned about 4 parking for the Lyric Theatre and the Longshoremen as late 5 as two o'clock yesterday -- one o'clock yesterday. Is 6 that a fair statement, Matthew? 100 percent -- you need 7 to say it on the record, I mean, because all of this is 8 being -- I want to clean up the record just a little bit 9 about the time lines and all of that because, you know, 10 I'd like for everybody to think this is a neat and tidy 11 process, but there are going to be a whole lot of more 12 meetings held at the last minute if you want input. Now, 13 if you don't want to have any input I'm not going to call 14 any meetings, but I can tell you right now you will not 15 get two -week notice and three-week notice of a meeting. 16 You'll probably get 72-hour notice at maximum because the 17 City moves on a 24-hour notice basis, so to everybody who 18 expects notice greater I apologize. I wish I could do 19 something different, but if we had met a week ago we would 20 not have any -- most of the issues that we're talking 21 about now were not even on the table a month ago. In 22 fact, in March the developer absolutely said they are not 23 going to change the number at all from 6.9. At least at 24 this point the developer is talking about it. So folks, 25 you know, it's not a pretty picture. It's sort of like Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 225 1 watching sausage get made. So everybody who wants more 2 time or notice, when we had the last Town Hall meeting we 3 gave three weeks notice and I think a total of 95 people 4 cast their votes in the highest referendum, 95. I mean, 5 we have the actual vote tallies here. Three-week notice. 6 Two mailings that were received three weeks before. In 7 fact, the people -then said well, give us notice the week 8 of; we got the notice and forgot about the meeting and 9 that kind of thing. So folks, we put the notice in the 10 Miami Times, we put the notice in the Miami Herald, the -- 11 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: The clerk's office, did you all 13 not get -- hold on one minute. Madam Clerk, when did the 14 notice go into the Miami Herald? That's the formal notice 15 for all the -- all documents in a newspaper of general 16 circulation. 17 MS. THOMPSON: Our office met the deadline. It 18 was in yesterday's paper, sir. Given when we were given 19 the notice, it was in yesterday's Miami Herald. 20 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: It was in Miami Times. 22 MS. THOMPSON: It was. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And on the website? Okay, but 24 look, I apologized about the notice. You know, the 25 question that I have to decide, do I really want to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 226 1 subject myself to anymore of these kinds of meetings, 2 because I can't give you notice much greater than I'm 3 doing just -- 4 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: (Unintelligible.) 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold on, ma'am. You got to get 6 on the record and say it on the mic, please, and please 7 don't keep coming back on the Overtown Advisory Board. 8 Look, I am totally responsible for this meeting and 9 calling this meeting and I apologize to anyone who feels 10 that they didn't have enough time. We have as many people 11 today as we had two years ago who were casting votes when 12 there was three-week notice being given. Now, one of the 13 things that will happen, and I can assure you that the 14 manager staff and anybody who wants to nitpick this 15 process will use the comments that are being made now to 16 say well, it doesn't matter because they didn't have time 17 so let's disregard it. So just keep that in mind how you 18 play into other agendas. The manager and I are in total 19 disagreement on the concept that this developer is going 20 to pay $6.9 million take it or leave it, and the fact that 21 I was told that the votes are there, you know, only 22 strengthens me to say that the votes may be there but the 23 public is going to be accountable and know what the deal 24 is. So the point that I want to make to everyone is this; 25 this deal is a moving target. This deal is a development Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 227 1 deal that the developer is being very, very positive, 2 very, very forthright, and he is at the table with 100 3 different entities from the Mayor, the manager, 4 Commissioner Winton's office, my office, the CRA and 5 everybody's got a different agenda and I hope I'm stating 6 it fairly, Steve. So I can only represent the agenda that 7 I understand as it relates to the people of Overtown and 8 I'm going to continue to do that. If you don't want to 9 give me advice in this a formal setting -- and we can do 10 it this way; I can put a toll -free number in, a dedicated 11 line, and the next time we'll just let everybody call in 12 and give their comments. But the point I'm trying to do 13 is I'm trying to reach out and make sure that the 14 community has information other than the information that 15 you read in the newspaper or what somebody who's on a 16 consultant are being asked or assigned to come out and say 17 what you are being -- what they want you to know or what I 18 want you to know; you're hearing a full dialogue back and 19 forth, and I think that's helpful. But I want to again 20 apologize to anybody, anyone who feels that they didn't 21 get adequate notice. The notice that was given was the 22 best we could do under the circumstances and we will try 23 to do better; however, and this is the most important 24 point, if you have an opinion about this development you 25 will be given adequate notice to come to the City Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 228 1 Commission meeting for you to speak for you, not on behalf 2 of Overtown but for you to come down and say how you feel 3 about this project based upon what has happened today, 4 what is going to happen between now and the vote on this. 5 I'm saying publically I want to support this project. I 6 have great trepidations about it. I recognize it's going 7 to gentrify, I recognize those things. I'm prepared to 8 swallow a part on that provided there are some long-term 9 benefits for the residents of Overtown, and I don't know 10 how I can say it any more than that what they are. We can 11 negotiate, we can talk, but there's got to be something in 12 it for more than the hundred or the thousand people that 13 are going to be living in those units and the developer 14 and the investors who are in this deal. Finally, on this 15 discussion I -- this is not a political statement. I will 16 not endorse you -- 17 MR. JAY LOVE: Me? 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- or oppose you, but I do want 19 to acknowledge a candidate who is running for Mayor who 20 has been here since nine o'clock. It is now one o'clock. 21 We all know politicians walk in for ten minutes and leave, 22 and so I just want to acknowledge the candidate for the 23 Mayor of Miami Dade County. This is not an endorsement. 24 Why not, huh? Jay Love. Let's give Jay a hand for coming 25 in and Jay, thank you for taking the time. Thank you very Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 229 much for taking the time. Yes, ma'am? MS. ANNIE SMITH: My name is Annie Smith. I live at 1620 Northwest 4th Avenue apartment 13A. Commissioner, first of all I want to thank you and the board of Directors for what they have done for Town Park Village. My second question is what is going to be done about the Dorsey Library? The second one -- the third one is we haven't said anything about our senior citizen. Those is my questions, and I really, really appreciate Town Park village because it's been a long, long time now. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Which village are you in? MS. SMITH: Town Park Village. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Village, okay (unintelligible). You the village, right? Okay. MS. SMITH: Mr. Jones is the President and Miss Slater is the Vice President. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, thank you so much. The D.A. Dorsey library, how many of you know where it is, raise your hand. Mr. Dorsey, who was one of the first millionaires in Miami, he loaned money to Mr. Burdines to organize and get Burdines started, gave a lot of lands to public bodies. MS. SMITH: He did. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Including Miami Dade County Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 230 1 School System, where he gave hundreds of acres and 2 including the City of Miami where he gave some lands. At 3 the time the City of Miami ran its own library system and 4 he donated the lands and built a library and that library 5 is in the most horrible state of disrepair of any 6 City -owned building that you can talk about. 7 MS. SMITH: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: It's located at? 9 MS. SMITH: In Northwest 1st Avenue. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: 17th and lst Avenue, 1700 1st 11 Avenue, and the City has put it at my request, asked that 12 -- management has put it on the list to make sure that the 13 historic preservation designations are done and we have 14 approved -- is UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Do you all have it in 16 your plan? 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We are in the process now of 18 approving the money to do the engineering to upgrade to 19 stabilize the building and to maintain it as a building. 20 It's a wonderful piece of history of this City but it 21 speaks volumes of again the people who built Miami and who 22 built Overtown. 23 MS. SMITH: That's right. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Like Mr. D.A. Dorsey, so thank 25 you for bringing it to our attention. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 231 MS. SMITH: If you don't do something about it, it's going to cave in. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well you know what? This would be a good opportunity -- maybe would you agree to serve as an interim chair of the D.A. Dorsey Library Restoration Committee? MS. SMITH: Any way I can help. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And then we'll just begin to organize. See, government respondents to footsteps and the reason the police precinct is moving so as fast is because these people that are still here, they not running out, have been down there hours and hours days and days weeks and weeks fighting to get that police station restored. MS. SMITH: Would -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: I will join with you and work with you, but we got to have people to go out there and I'm so sure the Dorsey family, D.A. Dorsey family, which really is underrecognized by all of us -- MS. SMITH: That's true. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And the City will join you and we'll talk to them about that. Chelsa, would you -- that's outside of the redevelopment area, I'm sorry. Brenda, would you make sure that we get this as a note and as a request coming Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 232 from the community? MS. SMITH: Just let me know and I'll be there. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Lance, would you like to be on that committee as well? Okay, all right. UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: That's the gentleman standing. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Dr. Fields is asking to be on the committee, the Masonic Lodge wants to come on board. Anybody else? So let's get it on the record now so we can move forward with that, and one other action item coming out of this, Madam Clerk will be a -- (End of CD #5.) CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- a referendum to form a D.A. Dorsey Library Restoration Committee. All those in favor say aye. COLLECTIVE: Aye. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Is there anybody going to be against this? MS. GREEN: No, not against it, but let me just say something. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Oh -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Oh, my God. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let the record reflect a unanimous vote of the remaining people present on -- MS. GREEN: Back again, Rosa Green. I think I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 233 1 resurected that library, and I understand that $50,000 has 2 already been donated to a individual but I mention it to 3 the historic preservations and that lady has mentioned it, 4 she has it on the books, she has appeared before the 5 County that that place is to be restored and I don't -- I 6 can't understand why it wasn't included in the Lyric 7 Theatre because it was the same D.A. Dorsey, so we don't 8 need all these different kinds of committee, Commissioner, 9 because when you get too many committees they stand in the 10 welfare line and we never get it done. Let's just go with 11 the Historic Preservation so we can get that thing, that 12 ball a rolling because I'm going to be filing the 13 paperwork. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. 15 MS. GREEN: And I would like to be on the 16 committee. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you just said don't get a 18 committee and then you said -- 19 MS. GREEN: I said on the committee that's 20 supposed to be doing it. I want to know what they doing 21 'cause I know y'all going to do it anyway. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you just told me don't 23 form the committee but now you said you want to be -- so 24 we're going to put you on it and hopefully you're going to 25 try to do it. Yes, ma'am. Now on elder -- you raised the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 234 question of senior citizens. MS. SMITH: That's right, I did raise the question. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And madam, Mr. Net Director, would you like to respond to that? MR. SMITH: Well, right now there's a seniors program at the Culmer Center and we trying to work with that senior's program and Jesca actually is the program coordinator for that to help upgrade and improve the program activities. It's been my understanding that Miss Reddick and others have been concerned about the program activities and they'd like to see more things, so we're trying to work with them and get resources. MS. SMITH: Mr. Smith? MR. SMITH: Yes. MS. SMITH: I been around a long time. MR. SMITH: Yes, ma'am. MS. SMITH: And I want to say how long? CHAIRMAN TEELE: How long? MS. SMITH: How long? I'm 74 years old and I want to ask you how long. I was here when they started it. How long is that we going to have to suffer at the hands of others? We was once the prime people that went out here and worked and caused this, but then when we get old we're throwed to the -- to the side and not Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 235 recognized. Only thing we get is words. We get sometime food we don't like to eat, so everything especially the food need to be improved. MR. SMITH: Yes, ma'am. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. MS. SMITH: And there's no refreshen (sic) it's just terrible for us to be seniors, so -- and I -- I'm not trying to make a big thing out of it. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, look -- MS. SMITH: I'm -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: You're right here at the right time and this is the right place. Look, we just took CD -- community development applications. They just closed on the -- I think on the loth of June. We'll be allocating money. We did not receive -- and just bear with me -- we didn't receive to my knowledge one application for a senior's program in Overtown. Now, now hold on one minute. We need to take what you're saying under advisement right here right now. I'm happy that Commissioner Burke is here in the audience taking notes and I'm going to ask -- and usually some executive because we've got to bring this to a close. I'm going to ask Mount Zion if they will initially take the lead and let's do an assessment review and let's see how we can come up with some programs for the seniors, and I will commit to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 ` ris 1 find some pilot funding within the next -- between now and 2 the middle of September when our budget year starts to see 3 how we can address this issue. 4 MS. SMITH: All right, I will get with Deborah 5 Ross. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: There's -- do you know 7 Commissioner Burke right here, Jimmy Burke, and -- 8 MS. SMITH: Yeah, I know Commissioner Burke. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: He's a great man and we're very 10 happy that Mount Zion has retained him. Let's give 11 Commissioner Burke another hand for staying the course and 12 he's a model to all of us for coming back and fighting for 13 the community. 14 MS. SMITH: Okay. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We will agree to that. This is 16 what I am going to try to do now as a matter of executive 17 decision we will have another Town Hall meeting within the 18 next 30 days, before the Crosswinds vote. There will only 19 be two items for discussion; Crosswinds and the CRA 20 five-year plan. Chelsa, does that help you? Where is 21 Chelsa? She left? She went home. 22 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: No, no. She's here. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So what we will do is we will 24 bring -- we will bring those people back that would like 25 to come back. We will not provide more than 72-hour Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 237 1 notice in all probability. We'll try to do five days but 2 we want to get -- right when the Crosswinds matter is 3 going to go before the City Commission. Are you -- are 4 y'all trying to take that up on June loth, Steve? Did the 5 Cross -- Steve, are you all trying to get that up on June 6 10th? 7 MR. FELDMAN: We'd like to put it on. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. We'll entertain -- I 9 mean, I know that Crosswinds has been very anxious to get 10 it moving. We'll try to -- it would probably come up on 11 June 24th or a special commission meeting. I probably 12 would favor a special commission meeting, but we'll 13 discuss that with Crosswinds and we'll try to have a 14 meeting so that the final Crosswinds deal will at least be 15 there and hopefully that will reduce the need for people 16 to feel that they need to come to City Hall if you choose 17 to and we'll do the CRA plan at that time. What I'm going 18 to do is ask the Black Archives to come forth and limiting 19 them to five minutes or whatever, John Hall, you say you 20 needed to leave. That's why he wanted to get ahead. To 21 Dr. Fields, and with that we're going to open the door to 22 everyone to make any comments you'd like. 23 Before we do, there are two other items we're going 24 to vote on today. One of them is the Lyric Theatre, which 25 we will vote on by voice vote, and the other one will be Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 238 1 designating the Clyde Killens Plaza. Does anyone here 2 object to the area directly in front of Mr. Killens' house 3 and underneath the Metro Rail station going to the Judge 4 Thomas office there which is called 2nd Avenue mini park, 5 that area in front of Clyde Killens house that we started 6 looking at building a plaza there where people can have to 7 sort of sit around, play checkers, chess and do what 8 they're doing already anyway without it being organized 9 and that -- make it more comfortable, at least have a 10 toast to Clyde is there anybody here who's against that? 11 And can we then ask that the Overtown Advisory Board 12 chairman -- no, could we ask Miss Rosa Green, could we ask 13 to make -- could we ask the Overtown Adisory Board 14 Chairman to make a motion to approve the designation of 15 the Clyde Killens Plaza along 2nd Avenue at llth Street 16 south to the mini park -- 17 TOKEN6: (Unintelligible) Mr. chair I offer a 18 motion that the we approve the area along northwest Second 19 Avenue and llth street south to the mini park as the Clyde 20 Killens Plaza in honor of a gentleman that provided 21 entertainment and accurately put the designation of Little 22 Broadway on the map. 23 DR. FIELDS: Second the motion. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: The motion is second by Dr. 25 Fields. Is there objection from anyone here? All those Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 239 1 in favor say aye. 2 COLLECTIVE: Aye. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All opposed? Let the record 4 reflect that it was unanimously adopted by a voice vote. 5 We're going to hear now from Dr. Fields we will also hear 6 from the Overtown civic partnership or any other CDC or 7 organization that wants to be heard. Then we'll hear from 8 the public. Thank you. Dr. Fields. 9 DR. FIELDS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and 10 gentlemen, it's important that we're here today. You can 11 hear from my voice that I have -- I'm under the weather, 12 but it was important to be here today for this historic 13 meeting. Just to say that Clyde Killens certainly was an 14 entrepreneur, a term that I think we have forgotten and 15 don't use enough, and so I might start off by saying that 16 at the turn of the 20th century, Booker T. Washington, who 17 was a national educator and President of course of the 18 National Negro Business League, promoted business 19 development and real estate, and the record shows that in 20 cities all over this country including Miami blacks owned 21 and operated successful businesses, owned their own homes, 22 owned -- homeownership was important. Certainly at the 23 turn of the 20th century and in Miami by 1915, blacks in 24 Miami Dade County owned $800,000 worth of land, so land 25 ownership and business development certainly is not new to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 240 1 us and is something that we cannot lose. The Commissioner 2 mentioned the term paved over a few minutes ago or an hour 3 ago -- I can't remember now -- but as he mentioned that I 4 thought very quickly about three places that I've -- two 5 places that I've visited and one that I have heard about 6 recently that has been paved over. That is a community 7 where blacks started, owned businesses, owned homes, had 8 vibrant communities like Overtown and now development came 9 in and there's nothing left because it's been paved over. 10 How many of you have been to West Palm Beach recently? 11 Well, if you go to West Palm Beach and you go to Center 12 City -- we were at a chamber meeting and they was -- 13 everybody was so excited; you got to go to Center City, 14 you got to go Center City. So me, I'm excited about going 15 to Center City because I've got relatives from Palm Beach 16 and so I'm thinking that I can at least tell them that I 17 was downtown. And when I went to -- when I got to Center 18 City, look up at the sign, I mean, I saw Macy's and all 19 this beautiful development. I mean just development. 20 Look up at the sign and the sign said Sapadilla and I went 21 to the next street and it said Tamaron. So the tears lust 22 started streaming. So I called my cousin. I said, "The 23 sign says Sapadilla and Tamaron. What happened?" 24 She said, "Child, the developers came, we didn't have 25 a chance to do anything and that's what you see." She Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 241 1 said, "There were black people who fronted for them and we 2 believed them and we lost everything." 3 Now, that's one example. I went to Ebo City. I have 4 not been to Ebo City, but I understand in Ebo City it's 5 the same thing. We had an opportunity about two years ago 6 thanks to the Collins Center and Phil Bacon and the 7 Overtown Civic Partnership to go to Pittsburgh so I have 8 daughter who lives in Pittsburgh, daughter and son-in-law 9 and family and I said well, we must go to the Manchester 10 Craftsman's Guild because that's what we want for the Folk 11 Life Village. These are cultural entrepreneurs, these 12 individuals in this culture and hospitality and tourism 13 who are cultural entrepreneurs. They -- it's a cottage 14 industry that is home -based businesses. That's what we 15 want in the village. We want the people who are involved 16 in the culture and in the performing and literary arts to 17 be able to own a place right there on 2nd Court, live 18 upstairs, work downstairs. And the downstairs would be a 19 gallery for you to come and look; you can see them 20 training. I mean, Manchester's Craftsman Guild is already 21 there, but we were told you are here for housing and I 22 didn't understand. I didn't understand. We made 23 arrangements to go and see Manchester. They said, well,' 24 we can see it on the way to the airport. And we did, but 25 when we got to the development, a beautiful housing Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 242 1 development and again we looked around. All new, new 2 construction, and in the community center they had a wall 3 with some beautiful pictures. The pictures of the negro 4 baseball league. And I said that's wonderful. Where was 5 it? On this land. Again, the land is gone and except for 6 a few pictures there was nothing there to show the 7 indigenous people. We cannot let this happen. We have 8 been working, we the Black Archives, and this is what John 9 was going to say; that the Black Archives have been 10 working with Crosswinds and as you can see from the map 11 that you have that we are coming to some understanding 12 about helping to preserve the culture. Mr. Chairman, I 13 had hoped that this referendum would have included the 14 Folk Life Village because it is there as a living history 15 process that we'll not only be able to preserve the 16 history but make it a destination of choice because 17 Overtown is a place of value. It's important to us that 18 homeownership and that the ownership of the land -- that 19 the people have some ownership of the land. We've talked 20 -- this is one of the things that we've talked with them 21 -- to Crosswinds about, which we have not been able to 22 come to an understanding on, but know that we are 23 continuing to talk and we are look -- we are working now 24 with the Convention Bureau in helping to develop work 25 force development and working through the Overtown Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 243 1 Advisory Board work force development in culture, 2 hospitality and tourism, and Mr. Chair, we have submitted 3 a grant proposal to community development to help develop 4 the infrastructure that we need for the programs that we 5 have and we certainly hope that as we move on with this 6 project that the things that are being considered will -- 7 the things that are being considered will get funding, 8 because without the funding for the projects, then all of 9 this will be for nought. I'll end by saying that I -- 10 someone said to me the other day do you really expect to 11 keep the Lyric Theatre? Do you know that that's one of 12 the reasons that you don't have parking; because they -- 13 and it's always a very nebulous group -- don't want you to 14 have it? I said well, I know that's not Chairman Teele 15 because I know he understands the issues of parking. 16 We've talked with Matthew and talked with Stephen and they 17 seem to understand the issues of parking and the fact that 18 we need to have a viable theatre in order for all of this 19 to work. Amenities -- when people come for housing, they 20 need to have goods and services. Again, for the Folk Life 21 Village we're looking to do cultural entrepreneurship so 22 that the live -work units will be an area where people can 23 live and work, and an example that we're using is the -- 24 one of them is the Manchester Craftsman Guild in 25 Pittsburgh. There are many successful programs like that Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 244 1 throughout the country. And Mr. Chair, I would hope that 2 we'd have an opportunity to investigate some of the others 3 so we can use the best of what others are doing for 4 entrepreneurship. Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Dr. Fields, Dr. Fields, please give 6 Dr. Fields a hand. Dr. Fields, it never amazes me the 7 depth by which you make your presentations and you know, 8 we can always find things to disagree on if we look for it 9 but I don't think -- it's very difficult for anyone to not 10 first of all understand that the Lyric Theatre is so much 11 a part of the legacy of Overtown. We talk about 12 entertainment, we talk about you know -- Steve, did he 13 leave? Steve misquoted me on one thing. He said when you 14 and I -- he and I talked, we talked about entertainment. 15 We talked about that. I said Overtown is essentially two 16 things, entertainment and its religious institutions, and 17 he left out religious institutions while Reverend Ross was 18 here, so I want somebody to tell Reverend Ross that I did 19 say that, but in a word when you talk about the night 20 clubs and what were the night clubs, Irby? 21 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: The Mary Elizabeth, Sir John, 22 the Fiesta Club. Yes. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I thought the Fiesta, that was 24 the night club? 25 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: And Allen club. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 245 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Allen Club, but -- 2 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Of course. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Hold up. I'm going somewhere. 4 This is very important. 5 MR. JESSE W. HILL: As a young man -- 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Your name for the record. 7 MR. HILL: My name is Hill, Jesse W. Hill. I 8 started my career in music pretty early. My oldest 9 brother James Hill, alto saxophone player, Jesse Hill, 10 yours truly, alto and clarinette, my twin sister piano and 11 alto, and my youngest brother who was a excellent tenor 12 saxophone player. Now, I go way back in music. I'll be 13 76 on my next birthday, so when you start talking about 14 entertainment on 2nd Avenue, 2nd -- music entertainment 15 you can't forget who we call Bill Rivens, The Rockin 16 Palace. Everybody that came to Miami, I don't care where 17 you came from; Chicago, New York, California, you came to 18 the Rock. Next door at the Reno Bar they had one of the 19 best tenor saxophone players you want to -- you want to 20 listen to. His name was Pascal. Pascal quit, but he was 21 -- he was one hell of a tenor saxophone player. Also a 22 good tenor man was Leroy Lange, who stayed on 2nd Avenue 23 and 6th Street right on the corner. There was -- there 24 was several -- well, Willis Jackson, Willis Jackson came 25 along a few years in front of me but he was the top man in Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 246 1 Miami in 19 -- when you start talking about entrepreneurs 2 and promotors, you got to mention the top man Bill Rivens. 3 He had the amateur hour. He started with it. Just across 4 the street over here, and I was about 14, they had the 5 Fiesta Club, which was later turned into a cleaners. Then 6 it went to 3rd Avenue, pried the door at 3rd Avenue. I 7 was about 11 years old when the Fiesta was on 3rd Avenue 8 to -- 3rd Avenue to 6th Terrace. Incidentally, Cafe 9 Society came along in the later years. I was in school up 10 in Georgia. My brother at the age of 16 years old played 11 tenor Cafe Society. 16 years old making $100 a week, 12 twice as much as a man that was making in labor. So 13 entertainment and the top entrepreneurs I mentioned. 14 Entertainment, it was almost -- if you ever been to New 15 Orleans and you go down the French Quarters, you can start 16 on 5th Street. First you hit the Mary Elizabeth Hotel. 17 Sir John ran from 3rd Avenue to 2nd Avenue. You walked 18 down 2nd Avenue, you into more lounge sounds like across 19 the street the Mary Elizabeth Lounge. Odell was opened 20 when I was at high school right about '43, 7th Street and 21 3rd Avenue. The lounge came along later. You cross the 22 street, 8th Street and 2nd Avenue you at the Lyric 23 Theatre. The next place Reno Bar across the street was 24 Chop Suey and next door to the Chop Suey was -- well, 8th 25 Street, 2nd Avenue was Open Door and the chef that cooked Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 247 1 the steaks next to 2 DR. FIELDS: Famous chefs. 3 MR. HILL: Yeah, famous chefs. Then you go on 4 down it's the Ritz Theatre, then next to Ritz Theatre you 5 got Mr. Dorsey and then the place that was -- I forgot 6 Baby Cones. 7 DR. FIELDS: Yes. 8 MR. HILL: You walk across the street and you got 9 -- you got the Harlem Square and they had the biggest 10 dance floor and the largest balcony in the State of 11 Florida. So all those places you go -- well, when I was 12 small then Shelley Ward was on 3rd Avenue and 9th Street, 13 who later during those times moved to 15th Avenue and 14 about 67th Street. 15 DR. FIELDS: Yeah. 16 MR. HILL: So those were the places. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. 18 MR. HILL: And as I grew up and I used to walk 19 around and all these bars was in -- right here in Overtown 20 and all of them stayed full and I just wonder how the 21 people -- well, whole lot of people going to different 22 bars and I look at all the places and it wasn't that much 23 money being made but it was a lot, lot of people in the 24 business of entertainment. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Let's give a big Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 248 1 hand. Dr. Fields, he actually stole my thunder. 2 DR. FIELDS: Okay. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And I didn't cut you off for a 4 reason, and this is the point. Overtown was religious and 5 cultural institutions like the Masonic Lodge and garden 6 clubs, et cetera, and it was entertainment. It was 7 entertainment. Now, Chelsa is a -- where is Chelsa? Did 8 she get back? Two things need to come out of this, 9 Chelsa; I'm going to request for you to organize at the 10 next. CRA board meeting a resolution under my sponsorship 11 that the CRA in working with the Black Archives and other 12 people identify people and do a film, a video of 13 Overtown's entertainment. 1896 to until the interstate 14 came through. What year did the interstate -- what year 15 did 95 come through? 16 DR. FIELDS: 166. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So from 1896 to 166, and what we 18 need to do is we need to get on film anD on record this 19 kinds of dialogue, and everything you said is part of a 20 transcript but we don't have the film and we don't have 21 that and we really need to capture the essence of what 22 Overtown was from people who lived it and who walked it. 23 You say -- I don't know if you could hear it, Madam Clerk 24 but Miss Hubbard was shouting out the names and reminding 25 and it was very clear from the record there's not a night Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 249 1 club or a hole in Overtown that she did not know, so -- 2 MS. HUBBARD: (Unintelligible.) 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Some you didn't go, but you knew 4 where they were? But the point is this; we need to 5 capture this energy. Now, the point that I wanted to make 6 is this; those clubs are all gone. We can't undo that. 7 What is remaining is perhaps the symbol and the essence of 8 all of them, and unlike -- Dr. Fields did not say this but 9 it's her view and her thought; unlike the Apollo Theatre 10 in New York, the Lyric Theatre was owned by African 11 Americans. 12 DR. FIELDS: Owned, built and operated. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But wait, wait. Unlike the 14 Apollo Theatre, it was operated by African Americans and 15 so the Lyric Theatre is more than just a building. It is 16 in effect the embodyment of all of the clubs that were 17 just -- roll was just called on it all because it's the 18 only fabric that we can all still see and touch, et 19 cetera, and I and -- I get very, very strong on the sense 20 that we have to preserve and we have to make real the 21 dream that Dr. Fields and the Black Archives, the historic 22 Folk Life Village are trying to maintain for us and it is 23 in that spirit that we ask for the approval on referendum 24 number two with one modification, and the modification is 25 and further to support -- to reaffirm our support, to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 250 1 reaffirm our support for the Folk Life Village made up of 2 the four blocks consistent with the proposals of the 3 historic Black Archives. Is there anybody here who's 4 going to be opposed to this? Please don't be. If not is 5 there a motion to approve referendum two as amended? 6 Madam Clerk, do you have the amendment? Please take a 7 mic. And comments on the Lyric Theatre expansion which we 8 really didn't get into that much and the concept of 9 reaffirming our support for the four blocks of the Black 10 Archives, and in your map those four blocks are different 11 from the four blocks of Crosswinds. Those blocks are 12 listed as F, G, 25 and 36 on the little map that you have. 13 Those are four blocks seperate from the Crosswinds 14 project. On your map they are listed as F, G, 25 and 36. 15 DR. FIELDS: Mr. Chairman, when you talked about 16 the video documentary -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Before we do, can we just try to 18 get this referendum approved, and Dr. Fields, don't go no 19 where because we need your instruction on that. Mr. 20 Bacon, you had some comments, please, and we commend you 21 again for your leadership in the area. 22 MR. BACON: Mr. Chairman, I'm Phil Bacon and I'm 23 here today as a -- 24 MS. BELL: I'm fixin to get mad. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Huh? Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 251 1 MS. BELL: I'm fixin to get mad. 2 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: She been standing up 3 there. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Wait, wait, wait. We're talking 5 now about -- she's here on a different issue. Are you 6 here on the -- are you going to be talking about the Black 7 Archives? Well, of course she's standing up there but we 8 can only take one subject matter at a time. Mr. Bacon, 9 please. 10 MR. BACON: Mr. Chairman, I'm Phil Bacon and I'm 11 here today as a trustee of the South Florida Land Trust of 12 the Collins Center which owns a significant amount of 13 property in the area that is commonly referred to as the 14 Folk Life Village and I just have a question on the -- on 15 your question on the referendum. I think that this land 16 -- we agree with you that this land is sacred land and it 17 belongs to the people of Overtown. We have always 18 supported and endorsed the concept of the Folk Life 19 Village. The -- as some people say, the devil is in the 20 details, and if the referendum is asking to endorse a 21 specific plan at this point we would need to have more 22 information. If it -- if the referendum is calling for 23 overall support of the Folk Life Village, then we 24 certainly would be supportive of that referendum. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We are calling for a Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 252 1 reaffirmation of the support of the concept of the Folk 2 Life Village in the four blocks as stated for the last 15 3 years by Dr. Fields. 4 MR. BACON: Thank you very much. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Is there anyone else? If not 6 can we get a motion please from anyone on the 7 reaffirmation of the plans to expand the Lyric Theatre and 8 the reaffirmation of our support for the concept of the 9 Folk Life Village in blocks F, G, 25 and 36 in the handout 10 provided by Architectonica? Moved by Dr. Fields, seconded 11 by (unintelligible). No, no. Come to the mic, sir. Mr. 12 Kelly, yes, go ahead. 13 MR. KELLY: As -- yes, I second it. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: State your name and address. 15 MR. JAMES E. POWELL: My name is James E. Powell 16 from New Providence Lodge. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, and you are a 18 significant property owner in that parcel in the four 19 areas as well? 20 MR. KELLY: Yes. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And you do live in Overtown? 22 MR. KELLY: Yes. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, moved and seconded 24 and also Mr. Calhoun, a sworn police officer, wants to be 25 the third of the motion. Further discussion? All of Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 253 1 those in favor of the motion that's amended, say aye. All 2 opposed? 3 Now, Dr. Fields, let's yield to Miss Bell, who stood 4 there. Miss Bell, are you ready now? We're going to come 5 back to the concept of the entertainment village, the 6 entertainment family film and one or two other things 7 because I want to talk about that in the context of block 8 36. Jackie Bell, thank you for being here. 9 MS. BELL: Thank you, chairman, and thank you for 10 having this community to come out and speak. I am Jackie 11 Bell, 1600 Northwest 3rd Avenue, the Executive Director of 12 New Washington Heights Community Development Corporation. 13 Since 1973 we have been in Overtown. The purpose of 14 today's meeting is to receive community opinions about the 15 Crosswinds project. This community is concerned about 16 Overtown's future development that may or may not be 17 Crosswinds plan. Some historical and legal knowledge is 18 necessary not only because those who are involved should 19 know but what is happening now is just a continuation of 20 decisions made more than 20 years ago. But also because 21 this development may be decided in Federal court as much 22 as City or County Commission chambers. I will leave an 23 extended copy of my comments today and the exhibition that 24 I listed in my presentation. Where a wise person once 25 said those who do not remember their history are doomed to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 254 1 repeat it, this process of Overtown development did not 2 begin with Crosswinds proposed development. That surfaced 3 last year and it will not end with the City resolution. 4 Please give the clerk Mr. Teele -- 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And Madam Clerk, would you make 6 a copy of her extended comments and the Exhibit that she's 7 requested a part of the record? 8 MS. BELL: We're going to give them -- we're 9 going to give each one of you a copy. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I'm asking that she make it a 11 part of the record. 12 MS. BELL: Exhibition 1, in 1979 the City of 13 Miami passed resolution 79-724 that adopted the Overtown 14 Redevelopment Plan. Exhibit 2, the minutes and the report 15 of the City Commission passed by Father Gibson resolution 16 number 81-920 approving the Southeast Overtown Park West 17 Redevelopment Plan. Exhibition 3, a composit of 18 resolution 82-940 passed October 4th, 1982 authorizing 19 City Manager Howard Hill to go into -- to agree with the 20 County on an Overtown redevelopment initiative 21 redevelopment project, and attached in there is the 22 interlocking agreement. Exhibition 4, the County 23 resolution 82-691 directed the County Transit Authority to 24 designate as a community development corporation projects 25 within the Overtown transit area. This passed on May Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 255 1 18th, 1982, followed by City Commission resolution 84-40, 2 1984. Exhibit 5, City resolution 85-755 is the most 3 important document that we have, and it states that that 4 is the most important document in the Overtown 5 redevelopment process because not only reaffirms priority 6 resolutions around Overtown redevelopment plan but it also 7 lists specific goals and objectives and a national 8 community development program such as Promise included in 9 Overtown special identity preserving buildings with a link 10 to your history and encouraging new development contribute 11 to the vitality of the district such as stores, night 12 clubs, restaurants, theatres. On the second page of that 13 resolution it encouraged new building and incorporated in 14 selection and design. It is clear in resolution 82-755, 15 which was adopted July 29th, 1982, to encourage 16 preservation of Overtown's past and its future. Exhibit 6 17 is also very important because resolution 83-187 adopted 18 the concept of a trust which Commissioner Teele is talking 19 about now. It is already a law in the City of Miami tax 20 increment financing and it should have been used for the 21 community to do its own redevelopment, okay. In Exhibit 22 7, resolution 83-909, which recognized New Washington 23 Heights as the community development in the transit area 24 October 25, 1983. Exhibit 8, a composit of several 25 related documents. City resolution 83-972 was passed on Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 256 1 October 25th, 1983, which approved the over -- Phase 1 of 2 Overtown transit station impact area development. That 3 included specifically a program that involved an equity 4 participation by Overtown property owners, okay. 5 Resolution -- I mean Exhibit number 9, resolution 83-980, 6 which recognized the major development projects within the 7 City had been unfair to minority property owners, minority 8 business and by not giving the proper opportunity to 9 participate in the redevelopment of Overtown. The 10 resolution included a plan that was supposed to prevent 11 that from happening again, okay. It included 50 percent 12 equity goal. Resolution 83-980 was passed on October 13 25th, 1983. Exhibit 10, resolution 84-40, which 14 reaffirmed 82-755, 82-972 and 83-980, okay, also approved 15 the equity participation plan and the 50 percent equity 16 plan as directed to City Manager Howard Hill. Number 12, 17 resolution 84 -- number L resolution 84-40 was passed 18 January 14th, 1984; over 20 years ago. 19 I know maybe some of you sitting here are wondering 20 why am I saying this? Because Crosswind is here. It is 21 only here because you're letting it. Commissioner Teele, 22 I know you are the third black Commissioner sitting there. 23 I know Father Gibson was there when it started. I know 24 Miller was there after, but I also know that Matthew 25 Schwartz, who is now with Crosswinds, and Herb Bailey and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 257 1 Dena Spillman and all of those made sure that it did not 2 happen for this community and it didn't happen because 3 they wanted to make sure that it happened when they want 4 it to happen and with whom they want it to happen and yes, 5 I did put together a hotel. I spent more than five -- and 6 Miss Green said 100,000. No, she's wrong. I spent more 7 than $500,000 putting together a hotel. Everything that 8 had to be done was done, even to yes, we did have 9 financing for it twice. It was not permitted to happen 10 because it was not wanted to be happened and in those 11 resolutions that I've addressed it identifies exactly how 12 Overtown are to be redeveloped. I know someone have said 13 to me that was yesterday -- but you know, yesterday could 14 have been yesterday and tomorrow is tomorrow. But 15 everybody else, every other ethnic group, every other race 16 wants their children's history preserved. They are 17 interested in their children's education. They are 18 interested in their economics. Only when it comes to 19 African Americans, we have -- now we have Haitians in this 20 Dade County, and I'm not anti -Haitian. They want their 21 culture preserved. The Hispanics want their culture and 22 all of the different groups, the Jews want theirs 23 preserved. Everybody want their history and economics 24 preserved, but when it comes to African Americans we can 25 be put to the side. Yes, Miss Green, I'm old too, but I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 258 1 have given 35 years of my life whether I got paid -- I did 2 not steal anything, okay. I am not looking for the money. 3 I am saying to you I have -- our children have a right to 4 our heritage and an economic future. Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: That is probably one of the most 6 profound historical and contemporary statements, and I 7 commend you, Miss Bell. I know you've been laboring for 8 many years and I know that Senator Jack Gordon, who really 9 -- long before, and long before Senator Gordon, but I know 10 he fought very hard in Tallahassee for many years along 11 with Gwen Cherry to make sure that what you're saying is 12 not lost, which gets me back to the Lyric Theatre as well. 13 And I mean, you can't argue -- I can't argue with anything 14 that you have said, and I just wish Mr. Attorney, Madam 15 Director, Madam -- Mr. Manager, that the City was as well 16 documented as Miss Bell is because, you know, some of the 17 documents that she's bringing forth now, some of the 18 documents she's bringing forth now have not really been 19 properly scrutinized. I have very difficult times dealing 20 with myself sometimes because I know very clearly the 21 history of when I gave the City the land, the money for 22 the lands, there were certain requirements. Specifically 23 I got in trouble with the President of the United States 24 who I learned today is at the point of death, Ronald 25 Reagan, that is, but I got in trouble are with Ronald Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 259 1 Reagan and his whole staff, Attorney General Meese, 2 because I did something that has never been done, and that 3 is I didn't do a minority requirement for this land. I 4 did a black business plan, over the objections of the 5 Attorney General, okay. It's -- it's documented. There 6 is a black business plan for this land as a condition of 7 getting the Federal grant from me that went with it 8 because I knew if you just turned the money over to the 9 City of Miami what would happen, so I would also quickly 10 say for the record that I believe that the life and the 11 terms of those conditions are no longer enforceable. 12 That's my personal opinion and based upon my understanding 13 of the law they -- they would probably not be enforceable, 14 but I could see how anybody would want to bring a lawsuit 15 or would raise the issue because that's what courts do; 16 courts make those decisions, not lawyers. And if you got 17 -- how much money does it take to file a lawsuit, Jimmy? 18 MR. VILLACORTA: (Unintelligible.) 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: About $80 or something to file a 20 civil claim. I don't know where the fees are now, but you 21 know, courts will decide those issues. But we need to be 22 very careful, and this is what I tried to get this 23 developer to understand; that there's more to this record 24 than what this Mayor and this Manager and my colleague and 25 my dear friend Commissioner Winton understand and have -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 260 1 and for that matter even the Collins Center and others 2 that are coming to this thing with good intentions but not 3 with the depth of the history that you can only be a part 4 of if you've read the records or if you've lived it, and 5 the records are not available in the City because I've 6 asked for them three times from the law department. So 7 there's a lot of different sides. Somebody said there's 8 two sides to every story. There's a lot of different 9 sides to these stories, particularly as it relates to 10 Overtown. 11 Dr. Fields, if we could close this out with this; 12 this whole entertainment and this film thing that we need 13 to talk about, is there any objection to the City, the 14 CRA, the City of Miami Communications Department, Mr. 15 manager, if we could get you all's support, sort of 16 organizing a memory lane video of the entertainment venues 17 of Overtown and we bring forth people who actually had 18 something to say from 1896 to 1968 to have that 19 discussion. Dr. Fields, do you have a problem with that? 20 Is that something that you would like to help us organize, 21 because I think it's important to get people not just on 22 record, on paper -- 23 DR. FIELDS: Sure. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But to get their voices. 25 DR. FIELDS: Very much so. You're talking about Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 261 1 a documentary, you're talking about an oral history 2 program. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: An oral history program. 4 DR. FIELDS: Yes. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Immediately, and their -- 6 DR. FIELDS: Very much so. You're talking a 7 documentary. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Immediately. 9 DR. FIELDS: Yes. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Relating just to the 11 entertainment concept and component. 12 DR. FIELDS: And as a part of that, Mr. Chairman, 13 it would be good to do a mapping so that we actually get a 14 sense of all of the places that people are talking about. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Is there anybody here who would 16 be opposed to the CRA, the City and the Black Archives and 17 other parties noticing to the public and inviting people 18 who were a part of Miami of the eras from 1896 to 1968 19 from an entertainment venue -- we ought to call it the 20 Elsie Hubbard memory lane but a documentary in just 21 getting the raw film footage for that. Commissioner -- 22 oh, did you want to speak on that issue? 23 MS. ANDREA COPELAND: Yes. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am, please. 25 MS. COPELAND: Good afternoon. My name is Andrea Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 262 1 Copeland. I reside at 1940 Northwest 4th Court apartment 2 15 and my comment -- I'm not opposed to the Lyric Theatre 3 or you guys presenting something in Overtown to show the 4 culture of Overtown, but what my concern is is that the 5 Lyric Theatre is still -- yeah, is not -- yeah, the Lyric 6 Theatre and the Black Archives were there, but what I want 7 to suggest is that you reach out to the public and the 8 kids because you have the Overtown community Optimists 9 that is -- targets over 400 children as well as the 10 Overtown Youth Center, you have the different town parks 11 that has many, many of the kids there. You have different 12 project cooperatives in Overtown that basically have not 13 yet to see or benefit from different programs teaching 14 them about the historical Overtown. I've been born and 15 raised here as well as I work in Overtown for over 34 16 years now and I just have yet to see where the Lyric 17 Theatre Black Archives have put on a presentation for the 18 kids in Overtown to be educated on. That's just -- just 19 my comment. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, and Dr. Fields I'm sure 21 wants to -- 22 DR. FIELDS: Thank you, yes. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- put that in a different 24 context. 25 DR. FIELDS: Well, no; thank her for that. We Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 a= 1 are working with the Overtown Advisory Board, as a matter 2 of fact, for a program called career awareness. It was 3 approved last month trying to -- I mean, we've done things 4 before. We -- last summer we had theatre ettiquette or 5 two summers ago because the theatre was closed last summer 6 but through the Main Street program we have the Red Velvet 7 Cake Festival and Happy Birthday Miami, so we have 8 involved children from those areas that you've talked 9 about. Certainly not enough, not as many as the 400, but 10 we certainly will work with those children or I'm glad you 11 just came back, Irby, because I was talking about the 12 career awareness for grades 6 through 16 -- ages 6 through 13 16 where we will be working with students through the 14 Overtown Advisory Board or the Empowerment Zone, the 15 Empowerment Zone trust and the Greater Miami Convention 16 Bureau in hospitality, tourism and in culture. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But -- 18 DR. FIELDS: And the Knight Foundation, yes, and 19 Mr. Chairman I want to say to you because I should have 20 said it earlier to put it on the record as you said that 21 while Booker T. Washington was the first President of the 22 National Negro Business League, our own chairman, Arthur 23 Teele Junior was also the President of that national body, 24 and which number were you in the presidency? 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I was the number 12, the 12th Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 264 1 National President of the national -- so in Washington -- 2 DR. FIELDS: Well, that's the reason that we -- I 3 mean, this whole entrepreneurial spirit -- 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Right. 5 DR. FIELDS: And people talk about culture and 6 the arts. For the most part they think oh, they're 7 non-profit, they are not interested in trying to do 8 something, you.know, in that area, so -- 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Dr. Fields, if you would just 10 yield on that one point because I think Andrea makes a 11 very good point and I think her point is very constructive 12 especially when you talk about the Optimists, who the 13 president's right there, been here through this whole 14 meeting, and I really want to commend you for -- and we 15 need to hear very briefly from you, but this is the point; 16 one of the best ways to encaulcate, to train, to teach 17 children about Overtown is to have videos and films, with 18 all due respect, and I think a part of what we've got to 19 do is the point that -- I think Jackie Bell said it very 20 well; if we don't know our history, we're doomed to repeat 21 it. But we also -- if we don't know our history, we the 22 people will perish, we will perish as a people. What mean 23 these stones is the way the the prophets write it in the 24 Bible; what mean these stones? If we don't put some 25 stones down so that our children and their children will Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 265 1 come back and ask the parents what do these stones mean, 2 we will be totally bulldozed and wiped away, so I think 3 the question reoccurs for the support of the CRA, City of 4 Miami, Black Archives, Overtown Advisory Board and others 5 organizing a documentary of -- around entertainment to try 6 to get original people to discuss and talk about the 7 entertainment venues and the bands and the entities that 8 were there. Is there anyone opposed to that? If not we 9 have a motion by Dr. Fields to so move and Andrea, would 10 you like to be the person seconding that we put this 11 historical document for our children together? Okay, so 12 it will be seconded by Andrea Copeland. 13 DR. FIELDS: Be working with her. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And is there objection to that? 15 All those in favor say aye. 16 COLLECTIVE: Aye. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All opposed? And Madam Chair -- 18 Madam Clerk, please ensure the record. Now let me just 19 get to my final point on this entertainment thing. Dr. 20 Fields gave us some very rich information. She talked 21 about her experience in Palm Beach, which everybody can 22 figure out how to get up to Palm Beach and go see for 23 yourself, and it just hurts to see how the history of 24 black Palm Beach was just erased just with one development 25 process. She talked about going to Pittsburgh. It's a -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 266 1 one of the things that I would hope that we could move to 2 do is to do a field trip. How we finance this I don't 3 know, but we need to do a field trip in my opinion to two 4 cities; one is to New Orleanes to the Frency Quarters, and 5 the problems with going to the French Quarters is this; 6 somebody 75, 50, 25 years ago made a conscious decision 7 we're going to preserve this. The City of Miami made a 8 conscious decision we're going to demolish this. You can 9 -- we can all remember when the Carver Hotel was bulldozed 10 down by order of the City Commission, okay, because it 11 looked bad. But in this New Orleanes, that Commissioner 12 and that Commission would have been run out of town if 13 they had talked about bulldozing a -- but that's history, 14 that's past. So the problem of going back to New Orleanes 15 is it's just going to end up making everybody that goes 16 mad. That's the problem with going to New Orleanes. I 17 think another example in this trip that I would like to 18 urge -- and Matthew, I hope you're listening to me on this 19 -- is that we should also go to Memphis Tennessee, where I 20 think a more contemporary view of a redevelopment but a 21 redevelopment that is very sensitive to entertainment and 22 to the role and participation by black Americans, African 23 Americans -- when you go to Memphis, you're going to see 24 beautiful restaurants, beautiful night clubs, beautiful 25 establishments that are in historic Memphis on Bill Street Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 267 1 but are owned by African Americans, and so I would just -- 2 we're not going to vote on it and I don't know how we're 3 going to fund it, but Dr. Fields, I would hope that you 4 the Black Archives and the CRA and Crosswinds in 5 particular could begin to work to organize so that we 6 could take 200 or 300 people to Memphis and to New Orleans 7 to do a field trip, an entertainment field trip to allow 8 Overtown residents to look at what has been done and what 9 has -- what the potential could be in the context of the 10 Folk Life Village and other activities if you don't 11 consider that to be an intrusion or -- 12 DR. FIELDS: Not at all, and we'll be glad to 13 work with Matthew on that. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Matthew, will you all agree to 15 to offer -- 16 DR. FIELDS: Matthew Schwartz. 17 MR. SCHWARTZ: Participate. 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yeah, will you agree to 19 participate? 20 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: And fund it. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Let the record reflect that he's 22 agreeing to participate but he's not making a financial 23 commitment yet. But the key is going to be getting the 24 Overtown resident and taking a very good cross section of 25 Overtown residents, particularly people who are still in Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 .: 1 this meeting here today, and I hope we can, Madam Clerk, 2 figure out who's here to try to capture some of the 3 commitment that we have because everybody -- when you say 4 trip, it will be a line ten blocks long and everybody 5 that's here that's sitting through a five -hour meeting 6 will get pushed right to the back, so what I'd like to do 7 is -- you to do is before you leave, anybody who's 8 interested in signing up for a field trip to please give 9 your name to the clerk or my staff on your way out, 10 especially those of you that have been in Overtown for 11 over 20 years but anybody that's still here. Further 12 discussion, Dr. Fields? 13 DR. FIELDS: Just want to thank Jackie Bell for 14 saving those records. Whether they're enforceable or not 15 we don't know, but at least it's a historical record, and 16 that's important for us to have. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you again. Now two -- two 18 quick issues. The Overtown Optimists and the Town Park 19 Village. Andrea, you were not here when we called it. We 20 called it. What we agreed on and what I want to state for 21 the record and commit on the record is that we are going 22 to call for a joint meeting. I'm -- the Chairman of the 23 Board of the Overtown Advisory Committee has agreed that 24 the next Overtown Advisory Board meeting will be on June 25 17th at 6:00 p.m. and the agenda item will specially Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 269 1 include the Town Park Village I, II and III Village North, 2 south and any issue that you'd like to put on the table at 3 that time and and I'll attend the meeting and I will ask 4 the City Attorney and Community Development to participate 5 in that so that we don't give this a short shrift if 6 that's all right with you. Did you want to say something 7 else, Miss Copeland? 8 MS. COPELAND: Yes. I just want to tell -- 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Just say your name for the 10 record. 11 MS. COPELAND: Andrea Copeland, 1940 Northwest 12 4th Court, apartment 15. I just want to say on the record 13 that you did committed at the Overtown Advisory Board 14 meeting on May 25th that you had agreed to meet with the 15 Town Park condominiums. We had contacted your office on 16 numerous occasions with no response from your office, so I 17 just want to -- 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Brenda Lee, come forward and 19 explain why you all haven't communicated back. Where's 20 Brenda? She's gone? But Andrea, what we did is one of 21 the things that we did was agree to have this this 22 morning; we had you as number one on the agenda this 23 morning. 24 MS. COPELAND: Yes. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And I think you know that, so I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 270 1 don't think -- 2 MS. COPELAND: And I do apologize. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, no, no. You don't owe an 4 apology, but I don't think it's fair for you to make it 5 look like we're not communicating. But what we're trying 6 to do is make sure that we have a meeting in the open. 7 What I don't want to do 'cause I been black all my life, 8 Andrea, I don't want to get caught up in a side meeting 9 where some people who are supposed to be in the meeting 10 are not there and things are said like was almost said 11 this morning; somebody's accused of being stealing, and 12 this, I want to have a meeting that is a public meeting. 13 I do not want to meet privately with anybody from an 14 association like this and we want to have a noticed 15 meeting, so I'm agreeing now -- I'm agreeing now to meet 16 with your Village Town Park Association on June 17th at 17 6:00 p.m. at the Overtown Advisory Board meeting, which 18 will be at the Culmer Center at 6:00 p.m. The concern 19 that my office has is that I don't want to get dragged 20 into a side meeting where I don't know who I'm meeting 21 with. I know you and I respect you and all of that, but I 22 want to make sure that it's a noticed meeting, okay. 23 MS. COPELAND: I understand, Commissioner Teele, 24 but I didn't make that comment what I just said -- just 25 made to put anybody on notification as far as who did what Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 271 1 and who didn't do what. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, before you got here -- 3 MS. COPELAND: Oh, okay. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Before you got here, people got 5 up and spoke about Town Park. There was discussions about 6 people misappropriating dollars and this and that and I'm 7 just saying we got to be very sensitive not just to your 8 issues but to everybody's issues because you do have an 9 association, you do have an association and leadership 10 that you elected, right? 11 MS. COPELAND: And I was going to talk about that 12 because you did made that comment about the board being 13 elected by the people for the people but our current 14 situation is that our board has been violated for doing an 15 improper election and we're doing -- right now, we are 16 doing our third election for this year. So that's all I 17 just want to say that on the report. 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, if you or your board would 19 like to request observers to come and participate by 20 observing, I'll work to get observers there. Mr. 21 Attorney, I would also formally request -- hold on. Mr. 22 Attorney I would like to formally request of your office 23 for you all to contact the Florida Bar and to determine if 24 there are any law firms that be would be willing to 25 provide pro bono legal assistance to the Town Park Village Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 272 1 residents -- in which one are you; North? 2 MS. COPELAND: Yes. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Town Park Village residents 4 North in providing legal assistance not to the association 5 but to the residents to try to bring this matter to an 6 intelligent discussion and conclusion. Would you take 7 that under advisement? 8 MR. VILLACORTA: Yes, Commissioner. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So what I'm going to try to do 10 is get a lawyer from a law firm that understands the 11 Florida Bar rules that will provide legal support to 12 people like yourselves who need to get -- hear from a 13 lawyer and have legal advice and they will not have to be 14 paid by you if we can find somebody like that. So you 15 need to see this lawyer at the end so he knows who to 16 contact, please, but what you're trying to get me into and 17 which I'm willing to get into in an organized way is a 18 dispute among the corporation and the board members, and 19 it is going to be a dispute among the association and the 20 association board of directors and the people that are 21 there, Andrea. 22 MS. COPELAND: Okay, but let -- 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Right? 24 MS. COPELAND: Let me go on the record and say, 25 Commissioner Teele, that we're not trying to get you into Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 273 1 any dispute. What we're trying to do is to have you come 2 in and assist us. Can I finish? Can I finish my point? 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. 4 MS. COPELAND: We're trying to get you to come in 5 to target certain issues that we have. We have crime 6 activity that's inside the -- inside our area and it's -- 7 and it's other issues that I feel that we could have a 8 meeting with you and the other Town Park. I just want to 9 go on record and say that I do opposed to having a meeting 10 with the Overtown Advisory Board, and the reason being is 11 that because they have they own agenda as well that night. 12 I would like for us to sit down with the other Town Parks 13 with yourself and representatives from your office so we 14 could stick to the agenda which is the different Town 15 Parks and the issues and concerns that we have there as 16 opposed to being in a public forum with the Overtown 17 Advisory Board and I know Irby ad them have their own 18 agenda as well and sometimes our issues get discarded with 19 other issues that's involved in Overtown. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You make -- 21 MS. COPELAND: Thank you. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Could we compromise it by this 23 way, as saying this; I will request respectfully of the 24 Overtown Advisory Board not to take up any other items 25 that night and allow me to be there with the Overtown Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 274 1 Advisory Board and allow you and whoever you'd like to 2 come to come and do it in that context. Is that a 3 compromize, please? 4 MS. COPELAND: Thank you very much, Commissioner. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Would you accept that as a 6 compromise? 7 MS. COPELAND: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay. 9 MS. COPELAND: Thank you. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you, Andrea. Is -- Mr. 11 Chairman of the Overtown Advisory, is that all right with 12 you? 13 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: We have no other item on the 14 agenda. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And you will allow the residents 16 and myself and the Board to have sort of a open and round 17 discussion? 18 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: We allow that at every one of 19 our meetings since 1982. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You told me to get out one 21 night, I heard. 22 CHAIRMAN MCKNIGHT: You weren't a resident 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, let's -- let's 24 welcome the heads of the Overtown Optomists. You've done 25 a wonderful job, Mr. Washington, and you've been here Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 275 1 through all of this and we've got great things in store 2 for the Overtown Optimists. Let's give him a big hand 3 because he's really turned it around. 4 MR. EMANUEL WASHINGTON: Commissioner, before I 5 start, did we conclude the issue with the Lyric Theatre? 6 Is that all settled? 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes. 8 MR. WASHINGTON: Lyric Theatre? 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes. 10 MR. WASHINGTON: Is that all settled? Okay, 11 great. 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Sir, your name and address for 13 the record. 14 MR. WASHINGTON: My name is Emanuel Washington 15 Senior. I am eight President of the Overtown Community 16 Optimists Club. I reside at 16464 Southwest 32nd Street 17 Miramar, Florida. I'm a property owner in the Overtown 18 area. I own a building at 155 Northwest loth Street. I 19 also am a city employ with the city of Miami Fire Rescue, 20 21-year employee. First of all, I want to give thanks to 21 the Commissioner Teele and Mr. McKnight, Mr. Meeks, Chris 22 Smith, the community, all the Overtown Optomist volunteers 23 and of course the members of the Overtown community 24 Optimists Club. I wanted to basically first say that the 25 Overtown Community Optimists Club, a lot of people know Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 276 1 about them but I just want to give you a few bullets about 2 who we really are and just some things that we've 3 accomplished and some thing things that we've done. First 4 of all, the Overtown Community Optimists is experiencing 5 its llth year of being existent in the Overtown community 6 and we have right now on record 93 members that are 7 actually members of our club. The Overtown Optimists and 8 you know in the City there's a lot of Optimists Clubs. 9 Matter of fact, in Dade County there's probably over 25 10 different Optimists Clubs in Dade County, maybe more than 11 that. But the Overtown Community Optimists Club is the 12 only 100 percent volunteer -driven Optimists Club. Other 13 Optimists Clubs have staffs where they're being paid. Not 14 that that's a bad thing. It should be that way, because 15 you need staff in order to run an operation effectively, 16 but right now I think the Overtown Optimists is the only 17 last dinousaur I would call it left in the community where 18 they're running s program and there's no paid staff or not 19 no staff there to do that, and as a matter of fact we're 20 servicing as Andrea said over 400 kids with no staff to 21 actually do that. And I say over 400 kids because when we 22 have our events we have kids that not even registered with 23 the Optomists that we service in the sense of feeding, 24 providing transportation for, assisting in doing things 25 with them that's not even on our records. So when we say Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 277 1 over 400, that's really an -- you know, a minor under 2 exaggeration of the number that we deal with and 3 predominantly right now we are a sports and educationally 4 oriented program that have no facility to work out of. 5 Now think about that, folks; eleven years the Overtown 6 Community Optimists Club -- in the last two years since I 7 have been President I have been, you know, working with 8 Commissioner Teele and the City of Miami Parks and 9 Recreation where now they are building us about a 10 1,200-square-foot facility in the back of Gibson Park but 11 this club has operated where they've had to take vital 12 records of kids registration, birth certificates and all 13 things like that and put it in the trunks and suitcase of 14 their apartments and their home. They are operating 15 really out of trunks and cars and now until I came in we 16 basically realize that's a problem and, you know, I am 17 saying this because it's very important. We're dealing 18 with our future tomorrow our, children. I know that a lot 19 of people came forth with the educational programs and 20 things and we'll talk about that in a minute but for the 21 most part now, right now the Overtown Community Optomists 22 is moving forward to getting facility space to actually 23 house its operation and do the things that we're 24 progressively doing now, and we're working well at it 25 because currently now we just completed our baseball and Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 278 1 our basketball season. We're entering into our football 2 season right now, which is our biggest program where we 3 have cheerleading and football and we're going to do a 4 kickoff registration at Williams Park not this Saturday 5 but next Saturday on June 12th. It's going to be from 6 twelve noon to four o'clock where we're going to have 7 games and activities where we feed the kids, a little 8 music and basically do registration. Our major focal 9 point of what we really have not had or handled on our 10 side of the sports and education is education which we 11 have not been able to to this point come together and put 12 on a decent educational program for the kids that we're 13 housing. But as you noticed in the community I want to 14 call the name of it but we have about eight, maybe ten 15 different educational tutorial facilities in our community 16 right now that those -- that the Optomists program have 17 not been able to filter their childrens into or to utilize 18 in an effective manner so that these kids can now pass 19 that FCAT and now raise the standard of these schools 20 that's in the area, both Phyllis Wheatley Douglas and all 21 -- I believe, McKnight correct me, are F schools or that 22 may -- are F or D schools. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: F or D. 24 MR. WASHINGTON: D. Well they graduated to D. 25 But the bottom line is that this program has, like I said, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 279 1 been existing over eleven years and we really have not -- 2 have been able to now get these 400 plus kids into these 3 tutorial programs that are in the community, so -- and 4 that's become a problem, so when it comes down and like I 5 said I don't want to -- 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You know, Mr. Washington, on 7 that point -- and I'm asking even the Net Administrator to 8 pay close attention -- along with the rest of -- because 9 Miss Colyer I think made this comment also, there's a real 10 need to coordinate link ages. Everybody's -- everybody 11 sort of creates their own CDC or their own church or their 12 own Masonic or their -- and they want to write a program 13 without working with what it's already there and you know, 14 we've done that in the area of health care where we've got 15 the Camillus house, which is a state of the art health 16 facility, within four blocks of Jackson Hospital, state of 17 the art health care. You know, and it doesn't make sense 18 and every -- -- so we really need to -- I don't know, I 19 think the best vehicle to coordinate these delivery of 20 after school and parks programs and CDC programs and all 21 that is through the Overtown Net Administrator. Mr. 22 Manager, I don't know if you agree but -- the existent 23 Chief of Staff is acknowledging his agreement, but I 24 really think we need to take this under advisement 25 seriously and figure out how to do that and you make an Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 . . 1; 1 excellent point, Mr. Washington. 2 MR. WASHINGTON: And you know, Mr. Chairman, I 3 just want to say to you that I'm 47 years old, I've lived 4 in this community all my life. Just basically the last 5 twelve, thirteen years I have not lived in the community 6 but I am over here every single day and for the last 32 7 years I've been working in Parks and Recreation and 8 working with childrens and one thing that I've realized 9 just like Reverend Ross said is that our community has 10 been systematically disassembled our community has been 11 disassembled in the areas that he was talking about but 12 I'm talking about systematically disassembled when it come 13 down to programs related to our children because we have 14 educational and tutorial promise programs all throughout 15 the community but none of them are making any 16 collaborative and me and Chris have talked about that 17 because that's been one of my desires, one of my goals as 18 a former park director to now bring together all of these 19 entities so that we can do something for the children. 20 Everybody got their own agenda and it seem like nobody 21 really want to come to the table and that's a sad thing 22 because and I'm not knocking any organization that's in 23 place but one of the things that we hoped for was when the 24 Overtown Youth Center -- and a lot of people fought real 25 hard against that, but when it finally came it was under Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 WON 1 the pretense that they would work with the entities that 2 are already in place and that seemed just to be just a 3 totally different strategy. We just -- you -- 4 (End of CD #6.) 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: demonstrated. 6 MR. WASHINGTON: Just yesterday, matter of fact, 7 we had a retreat, the executive board, and I attended that 8 executive board retreat and it's almost like we created 9 ideas of -- 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Aren't you on the board of the 11 -- 12 MR. WASHINGTON: Yeah. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: (Unintelligible.) 14 MR. WASHINGTON: Yeah, I'm on the executive 15 board. We had a re treat yesterday and in that retreat 16 they basically came up with ideas to formally -- what 17 they're going to do as far as the executive, the Overtown 18 Youth Center vision or moving forward but basically that 19 vision of moving forward kind of didn't employ or bring in 20 other entities in the area. They may -- they said that 21 they're going to do that, but it was creating a plan of 22 what the Overtown Youth Center is going to do. Well, like 23 I said to them when I first came on board is that you came 24 in this community with the intent of working with 25 organizations already in place, the City of Miami Parks Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 282 1 and Recreation have done this since they've been in 2 existence, the Overtown Optomists have been doing it for 3 the last eleven years, so when they came in those two 4 entities pretty much provided recreational activities for 5 the community. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What did you do with the Masonic 7 Lodge? 8 MR. WASHINGTON: Well, right now we're not doing 9 anything but I've got Mr. Young number. We're going to 10 talk because there's some things that they're doing that 11 we're now going to plug into. But my goal is to -- like I 12 said, is to constantly deal with anyone who's willing to 13 work with the Optimists, and outside of what we're doing 14 now, our next step is to really reorganize. At the last 15 board of directors meeting we now moved from a board of 16 directors running the organization to an executive board 17 and we've -- it created a staff. It's unpaid staff, but 18 we're seeking funds in the near future to now pay that 19 staff so that we can drive and direct this Optomists Club 20 in the way that it needs to be so we can now have all the 21 things that we need for children in the community and I'm 22 going to wrap it up, Commissioner, because like I said, I 23 don't want to hold you all here but I wanted to come today 24 to let you know and the community know that the Overtown 25 Optomists club is here and we need certain things. We Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 M 1 need a bus and all those things, but what we really need, 2 what we really really need is staff, a full-time staff to 3 compliment or to really enhance the volunteer staff that 4 we already have, because the volunteer staff for the last 5 eleven years have drove this program and did everything 6 that they could, but at the same time in order to 7 effectively operate, you need a staff. You need a 8 building, you need a place you can sit down and now have 9 your records and do the things that you need to do as an 10 organization, and outside of that we also need the 11 technical and the fiscal assistance so that we can make 12 sure that the financial parts of the records is kept free, 13 because when you're getting Federal money, there's 14 responsibilities with that. That's why for the last year 15 and -a -half we did not apply for City grants, nor did we 16 apply for County grants; because I refused a lot of 17 organizations who now apply for those grants and not 18 prepared to sit down and do the technical thing that they 19 require in order to administer that money. I'm not going 20 to be a party to getting monies and not administering and 21 doing the right things with it. We want to do it right, 22 and that's why I'm asking you today -- we not only need 23 the money, but we need the technical assistance to put 24 that money to work and be done properly. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Again, I would urge you to meet Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 with Commissioner Burke. One of the most important new 2 initiatives that's happened in Overtown in the last year 3 in my mind is Mount Zion making the commitment that rather 4 than trying to go out and build buildings and run 5 programs, what they're going to do is work with 6 organizations to provide coordination, technical 7 assistance and support; is that correct, Commissioner 8 Burke? And what you're putting out there right now is 9 exactly what Mount Zion has said it's one of the missions 10 that they would like to work with y'all. I certainly will 11 commit publically that one of my number one priorities for 12 this coming fiscal year will be to find corporate sponsors 13 and partners for the Overtown Optomists. I don't think we 14 want to, you know, one this is very frustrating but this 15 whole thing of profit and black poverty is such a vicious 16 cycle. When you go and you look at the Cuban community 17 and you go down to Kendall, all those Optomists programs 18 have Metro Ford, Casa Juancho or La Careta on the back 19 because they have hundreds and thousands of businesses 20 that support the community. How many black businesses do 21 we have that are black owned that are successful? You can 22 count them literally on one hand in Overtown, literally, 23 and it's not fair to put the burden on those one or two to 24 do everything, although they got to do a little more, but 25 we got to find corporate sponsors for our Optomist program Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 285 1 in Overtown just like other communities have. Most 2 Optomists programs, you know and I know are not funded 3 with government money. They are funded with corporate 4 sponsorship and activities that the Optomists do and I 5 think to get a lot of government money, which I fought to 6 give you money and I've probably given the Optomists close 7 to $200,000, $300,000 in the last six years in Overtown 8 since I've been here, but -- for uniforms and that kind of 9 stuff -- but we don't want to distort what the Optomists 10 program is about. We need to find corporate sponsors and 11 community organizations like sororities an fraternities, 12 Masonic Lodges, Longshoremen's Union or others to be the 13 sponsors of the Optomists, so I'll commit publically that 14 we're going to -- what's your -- what do you think your 15 annual budget shortfall is right now based on how you'd 16 like to go? 17 MR. WASHINGTON: Commissioner, basically I've put 18 together a budget and it looks -- it's around with 19 staffing and supplies about $350,000. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And what's the shortfall? 21 MR. WASHINGTON: All of it. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you -- that's not true. 23 You got to be selling them hot dogs for something out 24 there. They charge me a lot of money every time I eat a 25 hot dog. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 MR. WASHINGTON: No, Commissioner, you ate free 2 that day. But we have the -- when we have the sale at the 3 football game, basically that money is being raised 4 predominantly to pay the referees because we have to pay 5 them, so -- 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, how do the other Optomists 7 -- well, I don't want to get into a debate. Huh? They 8 charge the kids to play? Well, I mean, you know there's 9 got to be a way that there's some money generated from the 10 Optomists program, and we need to but I'll ask 11 Commissioner Burke to advise me on that but we got the 12 president of one of the biggest unions in town sitting in 13 here, Mr. Huston, Al Huston. I know he's over in Model 14 Cities now, but that union came out of Overtown. What was 15 the address where you all were before you got uppity and 16 moved? 17 MR. HUSTON: (Unintelligible.) 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. Huston, you got to put it on 19 the record. He's saying on the record he did not get 20 uppity, the union did not get uppity. 21 MR. HUSTON: llth. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: llth Street and what avenue? 23 You know? 24 MR. HUSTON: Right, we were on llth -- 3rd Avenue. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: 12th Street and 3rd Avenue. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 287 1 That's where the laborers union was before Joe Calup. 2 came to power, that union which is the Calup union, but we 3 need to reach out and appeal to these entities to support 4 us, Mr. Washington, and I'll ask the Laborers Union and 5 others to take this under advisement. Maybe we can all go 6 to the Longshoremen and ask them for support. 7 MR. HUSTON: Commissioner? 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, sir. 9 MR. HUSTON: I just want to add that I know that 10 the Youth Center -- I know you're on the executive board, 11 but I know the Youth Center I know is very involved with 12 trying to identify corporate sponsors and industry 13 partners. Perhaps that's a way to get them more engaged 14 in the Overtown Optomists program is to help and assist 15 you identify corporate partners, and I'd be more than 16 happy to work with you. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, I'm going to tell you this 18 now; I mean, you putting it on -- he's putting on record, 19 you putting it on record. The Youth Center is looking for 20 money too, and the worst thing you can do is ask somebody 21 begging for money to go to somebody else begging for money 22 because that's -- because that -- 23 MR. WASHINGTON: Thank you. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Huh? 25 MR. WASHINGTON: Thank you. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 .: 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Because the Youth Center has 2 advised my office that they have a major shortfall that 3 they're looking for funds to do and I mean, I'm all for 4 the Youth Center and you all working together but you 5 know, that's the challenge; we've got to find some 6 corporate sponsors for the Optomists. And if the Youth 7 Center will do it or the Overtown Advisory Board will do 8 it or the Collins Center will help to do it or the union 9 halls, but we've got to come up with -- we all said we 10 care about the children, but there is no more positive 11 program in Overtown that I'm aware of that affects more 12 Overtown children than the Overtown Optimists. They have 13 how many kids out there playing football? 14 MR. WASHINGTON: With cheerleading and football, 15 we have over 400. 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: With cheerleading and football, 17 over 400 kids. And when Overtown Optomists are playing a 18 big game, that's the biggest thing that happens in 19 Overtown all year. Huh? 20 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Am I right? 22 UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Yes. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So you know, you may have 4,000 24 people out there sometime. 25 MR. WASHINGTON: Man, that's true. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: To watch Overtown Optimists and 2 cheering them on, and speaking of that we got to get out 3 of here because I want to see shortie. 4 MR. WASHINGTON: Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What's shortie -- I want to see 6 Shortie Jones. Huh? Smartie Jones. Okay, Smartie Jones 7 do his thing today. 8 RIGHTI: He's not going to win. Okay, hi. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Don't you put mouth on that 10 horse. 11 MS. PATRICIA PRESTON: Patricia Preston, 352 12 Northwest llth Street. I just want to make a few comments 13 over the meetings and stuff and I applaud the 14 revitalization of Overtown and like I say, it's 15 regentrification of Overtown. It's fine with me, but only 16 50 units set aside for people that in the medium range 17 income is $42,000? In America, but in Miami is what? 18 $30,000? I make $30,000 a year, I can't afford no 19 $150,000 house. I would love to have one. You say we 20 could get $60,000, right, but it's -- where's the 21 revitalization plan for Overtown? We want to see the plan 22 that the County had for the revitalization of Overtown. 23 What is the County doing that going to enhance the City 24 monies that you guys are redeveloping? Not just 25 redevelop, revitalizing Overtown 'cause it still look -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 290 1 like the lady said, it look like a trash yard, the 2 revitalization of Overtown. 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, look, that's a very 4 complicated issue. 5 MS. PRESTON: Okay. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: This -- I can't speak for the 7 County. The County and the City are working together in 8 creating the tax increment district. All of the money 9 that is paid to the County and all of the money that is 10 paid to the City is put into money, one fund as it relates 11 to everything south of 14th Street, south of 14th Street 12 in Overtown. 13 MS. PRESTON: Yeah, that's where I live. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And it is -- that is the 15 redevelopment area. The County is doing a lot through the 16 Empowerment Trust. They're doing the St. Agnes projects, 17 the Overtown -- they just announced the Overtown transit 18 project, and so I think I would refer you to the County 19 Commissioner, Commissioner Barbara Kerry. 20 MS. PRESTON: Okay. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: For a better discussion on that, 22 but I think the real question is how can we all work 23 together and guide this redevelopment, and I want to make 24 this very clear again. We've done it generally, the CRA 25 program which is the redevelopment program that we talked Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 291 1 about that was deferred today is not really Overtown. I 2 mean, even though the newspaper talks about it like it is, 3 it's categorically incorrect. It is categorically 4 incorrect. The redevelopment of the CRA is between 14th 5 Street to the south of wherever you think Overtown ends; 6 6th Street, 5th Street or wherever you want to end it, and 7 that's all. Less than 20 percent of the residents of 8 Overtown live within the redevelopment boundaries, less 9 than 20 percent. But when you read it in the press, it 10 makes it sound like da da da da. It's totally misleading, 11 totally miscorrect, misstated. The CRA boundry stops at 12 14th Street. It always has, it always has done that. I 13 propose to take it straight up 3rd Avenue all the way up 14 to 20th, but not the exterior areas, but still at least 15 you can get a better corridor for development. But when 16 we talk about the CRA, it doesn't include any of the 17 Overtown -- the massive land of Overtown which is west of 18 95. Nothing west of 95 is included, so by definition the 19 CRA and Overtown, the CRA is only impacting about 15 20 percent, 15 to 20 percent of the land mass and probably 15 21 percent of the population. So we have to stay focused on 22 the County and the City doing their job as it relates to 23 redevelopment of Overtown and not just the CRA but the CRA 24 part is a very important part because it links Park West 25 with Overtown, which is everything from Biscayne Boulevard Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 292 1 coming over. We're going to have to close this out. I 2 want to hear from anyone who has not spoken yet that would 3 like to be heard. If you would like to be heard and you 4 have not spoken, please go to the mic, then we will hear 5 from those persons that have not -- that have had an 6 opportunity to speak. Ma'am, have you been heard? You 7 been heard? Well, nobody -- 8 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: She's the only one 9 I think that haven't been heard at all. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. All right, we're 11 going to hear from these one, two, three, four, five 12 speakers. Anybody else? Six speakers, seven speakers and 13 that will be it. We're going to have to recess the 14 meeting. All right. Yes, ma'am, thank you for being 15 here. 16 MS. DORIS HALL: Thank you for allowing the 17 forum. Doris Hall, 2201 Brickel Avenue. It's a pleasure 18 to be here and also hear the rich history of Overtown and 19 feel part of the community. Thank you for the 20 opportunity. Today I'd like to bring focus to the issue 21 involving the Crosswinds development in so far as June is 22 going to be national housing month and in that respect I'm 23 a fair housing advocate and I'd like to speak please to 24 the gentrification issues that have been brought forth 25 today insofar as this particular master plan that is Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 293 1 presented before us today. It indicates with 2 Architectonica Overtown master plan. The thought would be 3 and the suggestion would be that in keeping with issues of 4 balance in the Overtown community as it currently exists, 5 that you look at what is formally called in planning the 6 neighborhood impact study and that you take a snapshot of 7 Overtown today and what exists in the way of affordable 8 housing. For instance, how many units were built? How 9 many units are needing to be replaced? How many units 10 would you want to designate for affordable housing, and 11 then in the CRA plan that is going to be discussed, the 12 recommendation would be that there would perhaps be 13 consideration for a component to protect the existing 14 housing that has not been addressed with for instance 15 rehabilitation dollars. In other words. vniir 16 gentrification impact is not only with new development 17 that doesn't meet the caps for the load of the low to 18 moderate income, but I'm also a member of the national low 19 income housing coalition and one of the recommendations 20 before Congress is a set aside for a land trust that would 21 make the emphasis be placed on existing housing, existing 22 affordable housing and also fair play in replacement 23 housing that would bring dollars towards those who -- 24 those tax payers and those who are seeking first time 25 homeownership that it would actually be planned into the Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 294 1 Overtown master plan. That would be in the form of again 2 a needs assessment, and the corporations that I have been 3 speaking with would be delighted to donate free to the 4 City a very sophisticated system that would identify those 5 units and those housing units that would need let's say 6 rehabilitation, ongoing maintenance and a -- and a true 7 affordable housing plan that does not get washed away with 8 the CRA redevelopment. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You make some very good points. 10 I hope Commissioner Burke heard you very clearly because 11 the -- and Phil Bacon. Let me tell you the concern about 12 the points you make. Number one, this cannot be done by 13 the CRA at all because the CRA is such a small percentage 14 of Overtown and while all of the development that we're 15 talking about is in -- is in the CRA boundary, again, 85 16 to 90 percent of the housing is outside of the CRA 17 boundaries, so -- and they are limited by State law that 18 they really can't do a lot outside of the boundaries. I 19 mean, I would probably argue with the lawyer who probably 20 would disagree with me and he would prevail that they 21 can't do a study outside, but I think any study needs to 22 be done through the proper department of the City Planning 23 Department, or Community Development or both with the CRA 24 supporting it, but that would really skew. The other 25 concern that I have is this: The number of single Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 295 1 detached houses in Overtown is among the lowest in the 2 nation, so when you start talking about the preservation 3 of the housing stock in the context of the urban land 4 institute and the organizations that really have done a 5 lot in this, again, it's one of these Overtown sort of 6 doesn't fit the model. Most of your housing in Overtown, 7 virtually 90 some percent of it with the exception of what 8 the Habitat has built is multi -family publically owned 9 publically supported housing. Section 8, Section 8 10 subsidy, straight out Section 8 mod rehab, the co-ops, 11 public housing, which -- so again, I think what you're 12 saying makes a lot of sense, but I think we got to tweak 13 the model to make sure that we're matching Overtown 14 because some things I'm not sure we really want to 15 preserve per se. Because what we are really trying to do 16 is move the economic ladder up and some things we clearly 17 want to preserve but I think Overtown is a really unique 18 model within the nation and it sticks out in all of the 19 census tracts as a part of a nationwide survey, so I'd 20 like very much to meet with you. I'd like our planning 21 staff, for our planning staff Miss Arscott from the CRA 22 and the Net Administrator and our planning people to meet 23 with you because I think you make an excellent point. 24 MS. HALL: Thank you. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 296 1 MS. HALL: I would be delighted to add the 2 corporate sponsors and bring them towards the City and 3 they're national corporations and they would be delighted 4 to also -- they have agreed in principal to donate much of 5 the technology to assist with the focus on maintaining 6 viable sustainable communities. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you very much. All right. 8 Now, has everyone spoken -- at least spoken once? Have 9 you spoken before, sir? All right, could you let the 10 gentleman speak and then we'll hear from everyone else 11 that would like to speak. 12 MR. RENE WALKER: My name is Rene Walker. I'm 13 over at 2009 Northwest 7th Avenue. My concern is because 14 of all this developing that is going on over here with 15 being in the same place -- my mother is living there now. 16 She's 91 years old. I -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What's the address again? 18 MR. WALKER: 2009 Northwest 7th Avenue, which is 19 part of Overtown. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yeah. 21 MR. WALKER: And my concern is that we are trying 22 to -- with all the development that is going on over here, 23 we are trying to clean this area, and as Mr. Kenneth 24 Wilson spoke before about clearing the homeless people out 25 of this area, I'm concerned about the move over to Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 297 1 Camillus house over to that area because it will be next 2 door to me and that will negatively impact not only myself 3 but it also negatively impact the Dunbar Elementary School 4 and St. Frances Savior Elementary School and I don't think 5 that that is a development that should be moved over 6 there. I think that what we need -- what we need there is 7 for example some of these museums are going over to 8 Bicentennial Park. I think that will help greatly for the 9 children of the area of the Dunbar and St. Frances Savior 10 and it's, you know, it's something that is -- we have been 11 there 30 years and my father used to own the gas station 12 across the street. There was a Gulf Station there and I 13 also would like to point out that I am a Cuban American 14 who lives in that area and I have been there. I did not 15 move, I did not move down to southwest, you know. We've 16 made that area our home for the last 30 years, so my 17 concern is you're trying to clean this area over here with 18 -- and moving the Camillus house over, and that area is 19 also Overtown and that is my concern and I just make it 20 that short and that's all I had to say. Thank you very 21 much. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I'm really happy that you took 23 the time to come. This is the first issue that has been 24 raised today and in a couple of our other meetings. It's 25 one of the most controvercial. It's -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 Om 1 MR. WALKER: Commissioner, I just raised it 2 because -- 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, it's important. 4 MR. WALKER: At this moment it was part of open 5 -- 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You're 100 percent to correct to 7 raise it and I'm pleased that you raised it. It's been 8 the subject of probably the most heated debate that I've 9 ever served on the commission of, and what the gentleman 10 is talking about are the long-term plans to redevelop the 11 Camillus house along 7th Avenue somewhere between 14th and 12 20th Streets. 13 MR. WALKER: Between 17th and 20th, and that 14 whole area is, you know, is where Camillus house is going 15 to be. And on 20th -- on 20th Street, half a block away 16 from Dunbar Elementary, and on the other end will be on 17 17th is about a block or a block or two blocks away from 18 St. Frances Savior. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And Booker T. 20 MR. WALKER: And will be next door to me, you 21 know, and -- 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And I understand that. 23 MR. WALKER: And also to -- I'm sorry, go ahead. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, and also? Go ahead. 25 MR. WALKER: No, what I was going to say, it's Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 299 also going to impact -- negatively impact the residents of Park Town, you know, which are right next to that area. So this is my concern. That's one of the reasons why I'm here, and like I said before, we have been in this, you know, there 30 years and I intend to be there a lot longer. That building was built in 1926 and I have put -- we have put a lot of work into trying to preserve it. It's an old, old building. I know it might not be part of the -- I'm sorry, it might not be part of the Overtown history, but it is also part of Overtown and that is my concern, sir. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right. Let me just say this very quickly; the issue we're talking about is the Camillus House. The concerns that the gentleman is stating are well founded and well placed and are valid concerns. They have very valid concerns, and you're at the right place at the right time to express them. I don't know when that issue is going to move again. It's -- I think it's very important that the City and the Camillus house meet with the owners of property in the area, especially Town Park and others because what the Camillus house is proposing to do is totally different from what you described or what most people think, if I may finish. MR. WALKER: Sure. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 300 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: If you go to where the Camillus 2 house -- Camillus House Health Clinic is, which is on 3rd 3 Court and 5th Street and 4th Street, they have a homeless 4 facility there. If you drive by, 4th Street day and night 5 it looks just like a Marriott Courtyard. I mean it. You 6 can't tell the difference between that and a Marriott 7 Courtyard. That's what they're saying they're going to do 8 over on 7th Avenue; that they will not replicate what is 9 there. I think there's a tremendous amount of concern. 10 Your concern is well placed, and I respect that. 11 MR. WALKER: Commissioner, there is also 12 something else that it hasn't been brought up. If 13 Camillus house is -- Camillus house need that state of art 14 the facilities, we can build it where it is upwards. 15 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: That's right. 16 MR. WALKER: There is plenty of room where it is 17 to build it upwards and they can have all the -- all of 18 the different state of the art facilities right over 19 there. 20 UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: That's right. 21 MR. WALKER: There is plenty of room where it is 22 to build up it upwards and they can have all the different 23 state of the art facilities right there. It doesn't need 24 to go into Overtown, doesn't need to get out of this area 25 and into Overtown. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 301 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I can tell that you you have a 2 very valid point. I tried to support balancing everything 3 with the City and the community. 4 MR. WALKER: Exactly. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: If I lose on Crosswinds, I can 6 tell you right here right now the Camillus house coming 7 there is going to be your last concern because -- 8 MR. WALKER: Commissioner. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I mean, I'm just being honest. 10 I mean, all I got is one vote, just one little vote and I 11 can tell you if the Camillus House -- if the Crosswinds 12 does not -- if there is not a major significant trust fund 13 established for the residents of Overtown, that's going to 14 be your last concern because Camillus house can stay 15 there -- 16 MR. WALKER: It is -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: -- for a long long time. 18 MR. WALKER: I'm just going to make one short 19 comment and I -- I'll be off, please. That right now 20 Camillus house is in another district. It's in 21 Commissioner Johnnie Winton's district, correct, so we are 22 proposing taking it out of there because they don't want 23 it and bringing it into our own district, your district? 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, that's interesting. When 25 you read the Miami Herald and you read the Miami Today, Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 302 they say it's in Commissioner Gonzalez's district and -- MR. WALKER: Well, yeah. Let me -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: And I'm telling you it's not in Commissioner Gonzalez's district. MR. WALKER: I know that. CHAIRMAN TEELE: But it's very -- MR. WALKER: It's in yours, sir. CHAIRMAN TEELE: It is. Trust me, I understand that. Trust me, I do know. MR. WALKER: I know that. CHAIRMAN TEELE: But I just want you to understand how the -- how the public can be manipulated on certain things when it's convenient. MR. WALKER: I understand that. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And all I'm saying to you is no decision has been made on the Camillus House yet but you are right and correct to express your fears and concerns. MR. WALKER: I will step out now, but if I could also at any other time talk to you about this issue, I would like to. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Madam Clerk, would you ensure that the gentleman's full information is transmitted and we can set up a meeting with you. MR. WALKER: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 303 CHAIRMAN TEELE: In July, okay. I want to stay focused on Crosswinds right now. MS. GREEN: Public. MR. WALKER: Whatever you'd like, sir. MS. GREEN: Un item [-D] woman says let it be public. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Huh? MS. GREEN: Let it be public. CHAIRMAN TEELE: It won't be a public meeting. It will be him and me, me and him. MS. GREEN: Private meeting? CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yeah, him and me. It's all right. MS. GREEN: Let him wait. Hold your breath. CHAIRMAN TEELE: You know, you just having too darn much fun. You must have waited up all week for this meeting so you could come down here -- MS. GREEN: No. I'm so glad you having this meeting and the only thing I could stay say, Commissioner, is you should have them more frequently -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: No. God no. MS. GREEN: Because we love to talk to you, and look, I had the opportunity to go into Washington so I don't know if we gonna ever get better because you see, I went up there and what people think it is, it isn't. I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 304 1 went there and people were down on the floor -- 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Tell us what you want to talk 3 about right now so we can -- 4 MS. GREEN: Let me just say this right quick 5 filling out applications for jobs on the floor. They 6 didn't even have a table, but let me tell you this; 7 everything is told to us to take to the Net Office, okay. 8 Take it to the Net Office. And then the Net Office is 9 going to convey it, but what the Net Office does is take 10 it and I'm a tell you, I got to have a way to do this now. 11 The Net Office take your ideas and give them to somebody 12 else and I like Chris if he -- he's very respectable. I'm 13 going to tell you I think he's the right man and he can 14 become a great man, but if he'll recall, I sat down with 15 him and talked about career awareness. Now, let me just 16 get this clear, too. Let me make this clear. When I talk 17 about Overtown Advisory Board, get -- get this in your 18 head. I'm not speaking for me to be the dictator, which I 19 feel like they have --like we have -- Overtown is a 20 dictatorship. Two, it seems as though you feel like 21 nobody else in Overtown can do nothing and I'm not talking 22 about myself but some certain people. Everything is 23 turned over to them and therefore we aren't getting 24 anything, and like Miss Smith -- and I usually talk about 25 that, that's the senior citizens, and it's not about Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 305 1 taking a trip 'cause I've taken many, many trips. I done 2 been to all the places that you named and more, French 3 Quarters and all, but we got to do something about it and 4 piggyback on what Jackie Bell said about every other 5 ethnic group is ahead of us and that is because the way we 6 are socialized in the United States. Only the black 7 Americans -- and when I said that, people that was not 8 born in the Caribbean or other countries. When those 9 people come here, they come here ready to work. They have 10 some skills. Only in America do you let the people stand 11 on the corner and do absolutely nothing and figure out a 12 way they can beat the system and they do too, you know, 13 and I've worked all my life but let me tell you this; we 14 need, Commissioner, some accountability. You're going to 15 have to stop all these different organize -- it's too many 16 giving money and everybody coming here steal babies for 17 money. To my knowledge like the Lyric Theatre, they been 18 getting money for 20 some -- where is the money that you 19 give them? Who's getting the interest, and I need an 20 answer to this question I'm fixing to ask; do the Overtown 21 Advisory Board have a budget? Do they get a budget, 22 Overtown Advisory Board? I need a answer. Do they have a 23 budget? 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. McKnight. 25 MR. MCKNIGHT: Miss Green is a former board Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1: 1 member. 2 MS. GREEN: I don't -- no, but I -- but I want to 3 -- I never did know. You kept me out. They never gave me 4 the rules. 5 MR. MCKNIGHT: I wasn't on the board along with 6 her. 7 MS. GREEN: But you been there ever since I was 8 retired; ten years. 9 MR. MCKNOGHT: (Unintelligible.) 10 MS. GREEN: Like the supreme court. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Wait. 12 MS. GREEN: Wait a minute, Mr. -- 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You asked a question. 14 MS. GREEN: Commissioner, please. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: May I answer your question? 16 MS. GREEN: Yes, sir, you can. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: To my knowledge, there is no 18 direct appropriations to the Overtown -- for the Overtown 19 Advisory Board from the City of Miami or the CRA. I 20 cannot speak for the County or the Empowerment Trust or 21 any other, and they are a corporation. They are free to 22 go out and raise money in accordance with their bylaws and 23 the wishes of the Board of Directors. 24 MS. GREEN: The bylaws don't state that they can 25 raise money, but according to the bylaws they are not even Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 307 1 active according to Tallahassee. 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, Miss Green, what's 3 your point? 4 MS. GREEN: All right, but let me just finish. 5 Let me just finish this because the reason I asked 6 you'cause another thing about parks and recreation, I saw 7 the brochure that Javier has issued. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Javier who? 9 MS. GREEN: The one over parks and recreation, 10 one that took over I think it's Gonzalez or Rodriguez, one 11 or the other, but his first name is Javier. Okay, he has 12 nothing, absolutely nothing planned for a park in Overtown 13 and I think Mr. McAleese (sic) or whatever his name that 14 gave the money for the Youth Center, that's what he said 15 inspired him to give the money when those children from 16 Overtown got drowned. Do we -- they need a swimming 17 program in Overtown and I just can't understand if you 18 gave the Optomists Club -- what's wrong with the Gibson 19 Park? They can't use that building there to house some 20 stuff? What is being done in there in the Gibson park 21 right there by the Gibson library? They can't use it? 22 They tell me -- they tell me they don't have no where to 23 put stuff. That's what -- Commissioner, you don't want to 24 hear it but somebody has to come out there and get a grip 25 on Overtown and what's going on. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, look. The Manager and 2 the manager's Chief of Staff is here. The Manager's 3 office is responsible for running things. Commissioners 4 are like legislators, Congressmen. 5 MS. GREEN: True. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: We make the laws and the rules 7 and approve the budget. We don't run things. I am more 8 than willing to convene an oversight meeting and get the 9 Parks Director and the Net Administrator and anybody else 10 and figure out what your concern is if you would express a 11 concern that can be dealt with in a legislative manner, 12 but Mrs. Green, you know, you have had a wonderful 13 opportunity today, you've been heard from a lot. There is 14 no reason why you don't make an appointment with me and 15 the Mayor's Chief of Staff and let's just sit down and go 16 through this. 17 MS. GREEN: Oh, the Mayor's -- okay, because you 18 know, I made one and you never showed and your staff was 19 so -- they were hurt. They said Miss Green, when you see 20 the Commissioner in the street you have to call us and 21 make sure that he knows. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I gave you a proclemation and 23 you didn't show, but I didn't put it on the record and try 24 to embarrass you with it. 25 MS. GREEN: But didn't I come back because I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 309 1 wasn't there? I came back and I certainly appreciate it. 2 That showed you that your heart is bigger than I thought, 3 really, and you know that I'm out here really and I mean 4 everything I do because I haven't got a dime from nobody 5 to do anything. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Green. 7 MS. GREEN: But I see the need -- wait, just let 8 me finish this here and go sit down. I'm talking about my 9 ideas. I started that career awareness. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You can't license and you can't 11 patent an idea. 12 MS. GREEN: Smith, that's what I want to know; 13 how can we -- and wait, this young man right here. Now 14 let me -- let me tell you what happened and you can -- is CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Green, I'm not going to 16 allow that. Look, we got all -- I got somewhere to go if 17 you don't have no where to go and everybody else -- 18 MS. GREEN: I should have been -- I should have 19 been to a funeral right now but I missed it because I -- 20 you don't come out that often, you see, and that's why, 21 and we wouldn't be so -- we don't be so -- 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Miss Green. 23 MS. GREEN: This the second one, Commissioner. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You talking about a meeting, but 25 let me tell you something - Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 310 1 MS. GREEN: In four years, you and -- 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I am in churches in Overtown, I 3 am in restaurants -- 4 MS. GREEN: Well, come visit us at New Birth, 5 please. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: That ain't in Overtown. 7 MS. GREEN: I know it isn't, but I'm just telling 8 you just come visit us. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, you come visit -- 10 MS. GREEN: Maybe I get a chance to talk to you. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You come visit me at Pastor 12 Dubois' church this Sunday. What's -- 13 MS. GREEN: Who is Dubois? I can't come. That's 14 -- is CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, Pastor Dubois' is 17th and 16 3rd Avenue, Temple Baptist Church. Come see tomorrow at 17 Temple Baptist and then tomorrow I'll be at Booker T. 18 Washington's graduation, so don't you put on the record 19 that I'm not -- I'm over in Overtown too much. 20 MS. GREEN: But I mean with meetings where we can 21 talk. 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I don't want to be in a whole 23 lot of meetings. 24 MS. GREEN: We can't break the sunshine law, 25 violate it. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 311 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All y'all want to do is -- MS. GREEN: Mr. -- Mr. -- tell him now. MS. EL' AMIN: I just -- I just want to make an announcement, that's all. CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, we going to hear from you. Go ahead. MR. EL' AMIN: Richard El' Amin, Providence Lodge. We have a big function that we have every year anually and it has grown tremendously, so we I wanted to catch some of the people before they left but -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: What's the date, time and place of the event? MR. EL' AMIN: The event is -- well, first of all I want everyone to try to make it to the meeting. The meeting is October 19th, the affair is the back -to -school giveaway for the kids to get -- CHAIRMAN TEELE: October or August? MR. EL' AMIN: June. I'm sorry. June the 19th is the meeting. It's a back -to -school giveaway for the kids -- giveaway? the 7th. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Is that the date of the MR. EL' AMIN: The date of the giveaway is August CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, August 7th. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 312 1 MR. EL' AMIN: It's August the 7th and also we're 2 having a concert on that day also but what I'm trying to 3 get is to get the people, the community to try to come to 4 the meetings so that we can make it a perfect day. We 5 don't have enough participation from the community and it 6 has grown too too large and we need more people to involve 7 and especially the different home en owners association 8 and especially Irby, the Advisory Committee because we 9 sent out notices and somehow they don't get to you or 10 whatever, but now that I got your attention, please please 11 come to the meeting. 12 MR. MCKNIGHT: Where is it. 13 MR. EL' AMIN: It's going to be at the Masonic 14 Lodge, 10:00 a.m. We only hold our meetings for an hour 15 and we're very strict, so a whole lot of conversation we 16 do not allow. Strictly business from 10:00 to 11:00, 17 11:00 we stop. 18 MR. MCKNIGHT: I'll be there. 19 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am. 20 MS. JACKSON: Hi, I have to state my name again 21 right? 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, ma'am. 23 MS. JACKSON: Dorothy Jackson. I was listening 24 to the young lady about the Lyric Theatre and I never seen 25 a Overtown tour bus for culture. You know, I think that Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 313 1 we should have our own Overtown tour bus for the kids and 2 the grown people or whatever and people that's visiting 3 like for all the buildings that are being tore down or 4 whatever. I think that'd be nice. 5 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I think that's a very good 6 point. I think Dr. Fields has taken that under advisement 7 but one of the things we need is we need buses that are 8 not just tour buses. We need multi purpose -- what we've 9 got to stop doing is just everybody going out having their 10 own little program and with their own office and their own 11 bus and their own this, we really got to get like the 12 Overtown Youth Center has got buses and we're -- I think 13 didn't we buy buses for the Optomists? Brenda, did I buy 14 some buses for the Optomists? But I thought we bought a 15 bus for the Optimists. Did we buy -- are you all getting 16 a bus? 17 MR. WASHINGTON: (Unintelligible.) 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Okay, but you are getting a bus 19 so the Overtown -- and we need to be able to double up and 20 use those resources in more than just one way, but it's an 21 excellent point. 22 MS. JACKSON: It would be nice to have a name 23 like that on it too, but it's just -- instead of just -- 24 but earlier when you was talking about the polices and the 25 drug dealers and all of that, I wanted to speak up. I Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 314 mean, when you call 911 for emergency, they don't even answer they phone. You know, they call you back 15 minutes later. Somebody could be dead or whatever and throw across the building. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: I mean, are you kidding? CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, look, if you have that problem you should contact my office and my office will put you in touch with the civilian independent panel. There is absolutely no reason why a 911 call is not answered if it -- if it relates to a police matter, and if you're having that problem we need to make a formal complaint with the internal affairs. MS. JACKSON: Especially Overtown where I stay at, 1805. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, when you do a -- well, okay, and we'll put you in contact with internal affairs if you are making a 911 call for an emergency -- for an emergency. MS. JACKSON: Yeah. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Then internal affairs needs to get a record of that. MS. JACKSON: And could I say something else? When you do call the polices, someone get slick with you when you want to tell them what happened and then you know Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 315 and then like one incident where my son was coming home from school they was trying to bust some drug boys and he was coming from school and he had $170 in his pocket and they put him on the ground with they foot on his back and I was like what is y'all doing, that's my son. He coming home from school. No, we need to take him riding around asking questions. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, again, I think Commander Meeks is the person you should come up here and talk with. Now, I don't like to discuss -- MS. JACKSON: Who? This him? CHAIRMAN TEELE: Yes, he's the handsome officer. MS. JACKSON: Oh, okay, yeah. CHAIRMAN TEELE: And talk to him one-on-one because we don't want to discuss -- we don't want to talk about children. You put your name on the record and all that, but there's a way to handle this and if necessary my office will support you going to internal affairs and making a formal complaint. MS. JACKSON: Uh-huh. CHAIRMAN TEELE: I mean, and we should not make complaints to the internal affairs loosely or just frivolously because those complaints stay there forever. MS. JACKSON: Okay. CHAIRMAN TEELE: But if you have a legitimate Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 316 1 concern and it's not being addressed in accordance with 2 police procedures, that's the protection that we provide 3 you. 4 MS. JACKSON: Okay. Can I saying something else? 5 Is that -- that's your lawyer, right? That's the lawyer? 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: He's not my -- 7 MS. JACKSON: I wanted to say something to him. 8 CHAIRMAN TEELE: He's not my lawyer. 9 MS. JACKSON: I'm having a problem and I can't 10 afford a lawyer and I wanted to know -- 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: He'-s not that kind of lawyer. 12 MS. JACKSON: Oh, well he can't point me to no 13 lawyer? 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Maybe so, but you ought to come 15 talk to him. 16 MS. JACKSON: Okay. 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: He's the City lawyer and he's 18 the lawyer for the City Manager, the Mayor and City 19 Commission. All right, the last two speakers. Yes, 20 ma'am. Yes, sir, and you all have been very wonderful and 21 patient and I hope the Overtown -- Chairman of the 22 Overtown Advisory Board is going to take us all to lunch. 23 MS. EASON: And so have you, so thank you first 24 of all before I start real quickly here. Again, Velma 25 Eason, 411 Northwest 6th Street. I've heard a lot today Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 317 about the --- a lot of concerns and programs that are being run into Overtown. There's another situation that I just want to bring up as an educator. Now that we have Booker T. back on board as a high school and the first class coming out of there in 2002 of which my son was a part there was a large number of those students who did not graduate due to the FCAT circumstance and some other issues and that was in 2002. 2003 same thing happened 2004 four it's getting ready to happen again and when did you say graduation is, tomorrow? CHAIRMAN TEELE: What time is graduation tomorrow what time is the graduation tomorrow at Booker T. ? 4:00 MS. EASON: 4:00 tomorrow. CHAIRMAN TEELE: Dedication of Tornado Way is at 6:00 immediately following Booker T. Washington graduation bacheloreat services at 4:00 p.m., yes, ma'am. MS. EASON: So if we look at this, though, over what three years we're talking now there is a group that doesn't seem to be addressed that I have a concern about and these are the young adults that are coming out without the diplomas and we don't need to get into a lot of technicalities as to why here because it's just a fact that this is happening and yet when they graduate, they cannot go into college. Even Miami Dade I was informed Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 9M 1 recently has decided to just take a back seat and not, you 2 know, they don't even want to touch the situation. So we 3 will have another what I call second class of citizens 4 that will be out here that's multiplying over the years 5 that cannot get jobs, they cannot go into the universities 6 or colleges and we really need to look at some of these 7 issues and maybe try to set up some programs or something 8 to help that group. 9 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I agree. I think we -- again, 10 we've got just a whole lot of organizations out there and 11 a lot of it needs to focus -- say it again. Her 12 suggestion is that we need to try to formulate a program 13 to -- 14 CHAIRMAN MCKIGHT: No, no, no. What does she 15 suggest we do (unintelligible)? 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. McKnight is saying what do 17 you suggest we do. 18 MS. EASON: Well, I mean, I'm just throwing it 19 out and we can brainstorm about it but perhaps even with 20 the Crosswinds if there's something we can put in place or 21 maybe they have some ideas on as a part of that 22 development or the whole community, we have a lot -- I 23 mean not a lot but we have like the afterschool activities 24 through the schools, we have the Optomists Club, we have 25 the Overtown Youth Center, we have Greater Beth El. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 319 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What do you suggest -- I know 2 what we got out there, but what are you suggesting we do? 3 That's Mr. McKnight's question, what -- 4 MS. EASON: Training. We need some type of 5 training for these students. Not just -- I mean, the 6 tutoring is one thing -- 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: When you say training, you're 8 talking about like -- 9 MS. EASON: Training, maybe jobs. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Job training? 11 MS. EASON: And training -- yes, now that I -- 12 you know, McDonalds has decided they don't even want to 13 hire them without the diploma now, so we do -- we just 14 need to come up with some -- is CHAIRMAN TEELE: Thank you. 16 MS. EASON: -- types of programs for that. 17 Greater Beth E1 and I just make this last comment because 18 my son was a member of that 2002 class from Booker T. 19 He's attending Miami Dade Wolfson, although I received a 20 phone call and I have been struggling -- I'm a parent, a 21 single parent of two children -- 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: How much does it cost to go to 23 Miami Dade Wolfson now? 24 MS. EASON: Depending on how many courses you 25 take, the credits is about 52 something a credit now. Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 9P111] 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So for what -- 2 MS. EASON: As opposed to 30 -- 30 something, $35 3 I believe it was two years ago when my son started. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: It's gone up a lot. 5 MS. EASON: Yes, yes. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So one full semester is about 7 how much now? 8 MS. EASON: About close to a thousand. You're 9 talking 800 to a thousand for -- yeah. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: All right, but -- okay, I think 11 the important thing is this; you put it on the record. I 12 think the Overtown Advisory Board and other organizations 13 really need to look at it, but one of the things that I 14 would urge you to do or not to do is this; number one, I 15 am not -- I mean, I'm going to hold Crosswinds accountable 16 especially as it -- when it comes to money, but I'm not 17 going to try to make Crosswinds a social engineer piggy 18 bank hold on forever in the community because in a lot of 19 ways it just doesn't work. These are developers. They 20 ain't here to build a school -- I mean, to build a unit 21 here, a thousand units and some retail. We didn't talk a 22 lot about the parking. One of the things that I'm 23 fighting with them about and we're in firm discussions is 24 parking and how we can address that. Del, you you'll be 25 interested to know that one of the first things I told Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 321 1 them yesterday at one o'clock and he's still here that on 2 that block where Poinciana is, we need at least 40 more 3 parking spaces because the existing parking dedicated is 4 not enough; is that correct? 5 MR. BRYAN: That's correct. 6 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Is it about 40 or 50 or 20 or 7 30? 8 MR. BRYAN: We actually need at least double what 9 we have. 10 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What do you have now? 11 MR. BRYAN: Only one assigned per unit. 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: What do you have now? 13 MR. BRYAN: We have 64. 14 CHAIRMAN TEELE: So you have 64 so he's saying 15 you need double that, so that's what I was saying -- at 16 least 50 units have to be added in there if we want to 17 solve that problem, even though I didn't talk about that 18 in the context of the Longshoremen and the Lyric Theatre 19 I'm talking about the whole issue and my point yesterday 20 was that Poinciana Village, existing Poinciana Village 21 parking has got to be solved and I'm putting that on 22 Crosswinds, just so you know; however, and it was not on 23 the table, it was not on the table at one o'clock but what 24 I'm not prepared to put on the table with Crosswinds are 25 the social engineering issues that a lot of people have Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 322 1 talked to me about that are legitimate issues but we got 2 to put the development burden on Crosswinds but we've got 3 to figure out a way to deal with what you're talking 4 about. It's so important, and again the City of Miami and 5 the Overtown Advisory Board is not a mini God, a you know 6 -- we've got school boards and school board 7 representatives and all job training has nothing to do 8 with the City. It is all County, the South Florida Work 9 Force Development program has how much money a year, 10 about? South Florida Work Force Development. 11 MR. MCKNIGHT: About $60 million. 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: At least $60 to $100 million 13 right now for job training and you know, people come to 14 the City and it's okay, I don't have a problem with that 15 but we've got to look at how we can also as an Overtown 16 community parcel out responsibilities to government 17 agencies that have had the opportunity to ignore us to 18 hide behind things and not get it done, just like you 19 wouldn't come to me and talk about a health care issue 20 you'd go to Jackson Hospital, really the issue of job 21 training is not a municipal issue it is a County issue 22 that which the Federal government funds hundreds of 23 billions of dollars a year. Miami gets at least $60 24 million a year. Last time I looked they had $70 million 25 of unspent money from previous years on top of the annual Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 323 1 money, so those are the kind of legitimate issues that we 2 really got to get our hands around. 3 MS. EASON: Okay. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Because the program that you're 5 talking about is the kind of program that maybe we should 6 take the initiative in writing a special grant with the 7 South Florida Work Force Development for the graduates of 8 Booker T. that did not get degrees, and I commend you for 9 bringing it forward. 10 MS. EASON: Right, and that I bring that up 11 because as we talk about a trust from -- 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I hear you. 13 MS. EASON: This trust now, and let me just state 14 someone from somewhere there was a trust, Overtown trust 15 set up that went to Miami Dade I was a part of that that 16 went in for -- 17 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Honey, let me tell you this -- I 18 don't mean to get informal -- 19 MS. EASON: That went in for retaining. 20 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I'm tired, these bugs are eating 21 me up, but let me tell you this; there have been more 22 things set up in Overtown -- 23 MS. EASON: Uh-huh. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: That came and went and and it 25 was -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 324 1 MS. EASON: Wait, wait -- 2 CHAIRMAN TEELE: When the media -- when the media 3 left and when the great editorials and newspaper articles 4 were written, they all left. All of those things, 5 including some man who said he was going to give some 6 money for kids in Overtown and that turned into being a 7 sham, didn't it? 8 MS. EASON: Well, this, the one that I'm speaking 9 of, the funding was there. It was in place because I used 10 it. 11 CHAIRMAN TEELE: I can assure you that that money 12 is gone. 13 MS. EASON: Wait, wait. What -- wait a minute. 14 Wait. I used it. I was under for retaining at Miami 15 Dade. 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: That was at Miami Dade a trust 17 that they set up? 18 MS. EASON: Overtown, but wait a minute. Wait a 19 minute. And I was still there, went to enroll and had 20 been there using it for a couple of semesters, went back 21 and they said oh, well, the money, it's down in Kendall 22 now. I said Kendall? But this was Overtown money. 23 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Honey -- 24 MS. EASON: So -- wait. So then I researched it, 25 I researched it. It showed up at the Medical Center Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 0091 1 under -- 2 MR. MCKNIGHT: Miss Eason, Miss Eason -- 3 MS. EASON: -- center -- 4 MR. MCKNIGHT: I sent someone two weeks ago and 5 they were told that you have to go to the international 6 campus in order to -- 7 MS. EASON: Oh, that's -- 8 MR. MCKNIGHT: -- accept -- 9 MS. EASON: Wait a minute. That's the next issue 10 I was just about to bring up; when my son graduated, I got 11 a phone call to tell me -- someone from international 12 campus told me if my son chooses to go to the 13 international campus, he will get a full scholarship 14 because he was in the top 20 percent of that class, okay, 15 the A plus program and all of that, but he didn't get the 16 money but they told me if he goes to Wolfson, which is in 17 walking distance to our house, I have to pay the full 18 ride. 19 MR. MCKNIGHT: Same problem other residents in 20 Overtown have. 21 MS. EASON: But Overtown -- the only - because 22 again I used it for some years was Flagler Biscayne View 23 20th Street and 7th Avenue was the criteria. 24 MR. MCKNIGHT: Yeah, you are referring to the 25 Kelloggs Foundation grant of '92 but we are -- there's Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 326 1 another person in the neighborhood that actually got the 2 scholarship, you and two other people, and I can't find 3 anybody else who did. 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Well, my point is, Mr. McKnight, 5 we need to make a record of this. I think Jackie Bell has 6 sort of done a tremendous service by at least doing her 7 homework coming up. We need to make a chart, an outline 8 of all of these programs that have been promised that have 9 been taken away. That's why I'm so passionate about a 10 trust in perpetuity that is outside of anybody's hands 11 that's with a bank or an institution outside of the City 12 that is in perpetuity, because you know, I like to think 13 about the native Americans because nobody including blacks 14 have been treated as badly as native Americans but -- 15 MS. EASON: True. 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But there is a story that they 17 tell, the Cherokee, called the Trail of Tears. Overtown 18 is a modern day black American story of a trail of tears. 19 The stories -- and the problem is we don't record our own 20 history. We're -- with all due respect, Dr. Fields, we 21 don't record it enough, particularly these contemporary 22 things where people have come and promised this and 23 promised that and once they get something you never see 24 them again or once -- once the dissertation has been 25 written, you never see the people again, and so we've got Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 327 1 to be a little bit more accountable and we cannot be so 2 trusting and as Ronald Reagan, God bless him, used to say 3 to the Russians, trust but verify. We got to figure out 4 how to trust but verify anything that anybody's promising 5 us because it just doesn't happen. 6 MS. EASON: Right. 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Final comments, I want to just 8 acknowledge the people that never get acknowledged and we 9 wouldn't even be talking to each other if they weren't 10 here. They're the nameless, faceless City employees that 11 make it work; Michael Arnold and Richard Robinson from GSA 12 Communications they're. The people that run the PA 13 systems. Guys, I know you tell your wives or your family 14 or your other you'd be there at noon. We'll give you a 15 memo saying -- okay, so you've been a wonderful audience. 16 How long are you going to take? 17 MR. ANTHONY CUTLER: Not long. 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Like 30 seconds? 19 MR. CUTLER: Not -- no, not that short. I'll 20 make it shorter. I'll try. It will be -- it's short. 21 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You're on. 22 MR. CUTLER: You said I can come back to the 23 floor a few times. 24 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You're here. 25 MR. CUTLER: What about -- Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 328 1 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Cutler, give your name, please. 2 MR. CUTLER: Oh, Anthony Cutler. I'm sorry. 3 When you start talking about affordable houses, affordable 4 houses can be determined a numerous of ways but when you 5 come into a community like Overtown and in the African 6 American communities I think the mechanism that affordable 7 housing should be based on is the income that coming in 8 those households and that way you know you -- you giving 9 these people here a opportunity to be homeowners based on 10 they income instead of going by some other criteria that 11 they don't meet and then like with this place were full of 12 people and I know they all had the desire that these 13 projects here was going to benefit them an then when you 14 tell them that and don't get me wrong it's a good project 15 and maybe not on this particular project but maybe the 16 next particular project that you bring that the majority 17 of the -- of the people will be -- have some type of home 18 just saying that the majority of this development will go 19 to low income families because, you know, when you bring a 20 project in and then they feel as though this don't even 21 -- if it don't benefit them, but it does -- 22 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Mr. Cutler. Mr. Cutler, I'm not 23 cutting you off -- 24 MR. CUTLER: Okay. 25 CHAIRMAN TEELE: But that's the whole point; this Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 329 1 is not low 2 MR. CUTLER: I understand. I understood that 3 that's -- 4 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And this developer -- 5 MR. CUTLER: That's why I said it's a good 6 project, don't get me wrong, I believe that -- 7 CHAIRMAN TEELE: This developer walked in the 8 door and said what we want to build is market -rate 9 housing. Market -rate means just what you would buy on 10 Biscayne and 19th, the ones they're building there. 11 MR. CUTLER: Right. 12 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Just what you'll buy in Kendall 13 or in Brickel. 14 MR. CUTLER: Right. 15 CHAIRMAN TEELE: Or anywhere else. 16 MR. CUTLER: On the beach, and I understand that 17 but -- 18 CHAIRMAN TEELE: They're going to provide some 19 inducement for 20 percent or up to 20 percent. 20 MR. CUTLER: What I'm saying, what I'm saying is 21 the residents that come in here knowing they are tax 22 payers, is their money that you're using to develop the -- 23 to revitalize the communities and then they -- they not 24 actually giving the household to provide for these 25 families, I mean, look like they are being left out. And Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 330 1 that's why a lot of them just done walked out of here I 2 guess because -- 3 CHAIRMAN TEELE: No, the reason they walked out 4 of here because it's almost four o'clock, so let's don't 5 put some stupid stuff on the record now because they're 6 talking -- so see, someone will read this record, Mr. 7 Cutler and say apparently the meeting was a flop, the 8 people walked out because they didn't like what they were 9 hearing. But what you understand, nobody's had lunch, 10 everybody's been here from nine o'clock for at least six 11 hours straight and you're getting ready to start so -- 12 MR. CUTLER: No. 13 CHAIRMAN TEELE: You all have been a wonderful 14 audience. We're going to have another meeting. 15 MR. CUTLER: I'm bringing up issues -- 16 CHAIRMAN TEELE: And you're going to be given 17 another opportunity to speak. God bless you. Stay safe 18 and don't forget Booker T.'s graduation. 19 (End of final CD, CD #7.) 20 21 22 23 24 25 Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 331 STATE OF FLORIDA ) COUNTY OF DADE ) I, MICHELLE RUBIN, Shorthand Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of Florida at Large, do hereby certify that the foregoing transcript, Pages 1 to and including Page 330, is a true and correct transcript of seven CDs provided to me by the City of Miami Clerk's Office of an Overtown Town Hall Meeting held on June 5th, 2004. Dated this 16th day of June, 2004. MICHELLE RUBIN, SHORTHAND REPORTER Capital Reporting Service, Inc. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (954) 522-6401