HomeMy WebLinkAboutSEOPW OMNI CRA 2004-07-26 MinutesCity of Miami
City Hall
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
www. ci. miami. fl. us
Verbatim Minutes
Monday, July 26, 2004
5:00 PM
REGULAR
Miami Arena V.I.P. Room
701 Arena Boulevard Miami
Miami, Florida 33136
www.miami-cra.org
Community Redevelopment Agency
Arthur E. Teele, Jr., Chairman
Johnny L. Winton, Vice Chairman
Angel Gonzalez, Board Member
Joe Sanchez, Board Member
Tomas Regalado, Board Member
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CRA OFFICE ADDRESS:
49 NW 5th ST, SUITE 100, Miami, FL 33128
Phone: (305) 679-6800, Fax: (305) 679-6835
Community Redevelopment Agency
Verbatim Minutes July 26, 2004
INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Present: Board Member Gonzalez, Board Member Regalado and Chairman Teele
Absent: Vice Chairman Winton and Board Member Sanchez
On the 26th day of July 2004, the Board of Directors of the Community Redevelopment Agency
for the Southeast Overtown/Park West and Omni Districts of the City ofMiami met at the Miami
Arena, 701 Arena Boulevard, VIP Room, Miami, Florida. The meeting was called to order at 5:
23 p.m. by Chairman Arthur E. Teele, Jr.
ALSO PRESENT:
Frank Rollason, Executive Director, CRA, City ofMiami
Maria J. Chiaro, Interim City Attorney, City ofMiami
James Villacorta, General Counsel, CRA
Sylvia Scheider, Assistant City Clerk, City ofMiami
Anna M. Medina, Legislative Services Supervisor
Stephanie Grindell, Director, City ofMiami Public Works Department
Chairman Teele: If we could have your attention, please. We'd like to begin the CRA (
Community Redevelopment Agency) meeting with a silent prayer, followed by the pledge of
allegiance to the flag, and we welcome you, and thank you for attending our meeting.
Chairman Teele led those present in a silent prayer, followed by the pledge of allegiance to the
flag.
FINANCIALS
FI.1 04-00821 CRA REPORT
CRA FINANCIAL SUMMARY THROUGH MONTH END JUNE 30, 2004
Month End Report June 30, 2004.pdf
External Audit Findings and Other Observations.pdf
DISCUSSED
Chairman Teele: In order so that the board members that are very committed to the happenings
of Boston tonight will have the opportunity to watch television, we're going to fry to expedite the
board meeting, if there are any board members that are so inclined.
Board Member Regalado: I'm not.
Chairman Teele: All right. Mr. Director.
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): The first item tonight --
Board Member Regalado: Frank.
Mr. Rollason: Yes, sir.
Board Member Regalado: Is it because we're auctioning the arena that we don't have light?
Mr. Rollason: I think that we're cutting back on the lighting.
Board Member Regalado: Oh.
Chairman Teele: They unplugged it.
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RESOLUTIONS
RE.1 04-00823
Mr. Rollason: We had to go outside tonight and get the food outside because they don't supply
that anymore here at the arena, so get a little more light on the subject. Here we go.
Board Member Regalado: That looks better.
Mr. Rollason: All right. The first item tonight is the financial summary through month end of
June 30, 2004, and that's for your review, and if there are any questions or concerns about that -
- There are no irregularities to report or anything that's anti -deficiency, or anything of that sort.
Chairman Teele: All right. If there's no discussion, we'll move on.
CRA RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE OMNI
REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("
CRA"), WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE CRA'S
PROPOSED GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AND TAX INCREMENT FUND
BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2004 AND
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2005; AND DIRECTING THE EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF EACH BUDGET TO THE CITY OF
MIAMI AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
DEFERRED
Note for the Record: The Board agreed to reschedule the next CRA Board Meeting, which is
currently scheduled for Monday, September 27, 2004, to Monday, September 20, 2004 in order
to approve the budget before it comes before the City Commission for its approval at their
September 23, 2004 Commission Meeting.
Note for the Record: Chairman Teele requested that the Omni Advisory Board provide a
resolution in support of the shading project for Margaret Pace Park.
Direction to the CRA Adminisfration by Chairman Teele to convene a workshop with the CRA's
consultant, Bernard Zyscovitch, the City ofMiami Parks Director, and the Omni Advisory
Board, beginning with a tour ofMargaret Pace Park and developing a list of the items that need
to be upgraded in the park; further requesting the attendance of the City's Park Director at the
next CRA Board Meeting before any action on the budget is taken.
Direction to the City Administration by Board Member Regalado to clean up the street adjacent
to Margaret Pace Park which is in deplorable condition and flooded with water; Chairman
Teele requested the City Manager to provide a report at the next CRA Board Meeting, on an
interim plan to deal with the drainage problem in the street adjacent to Margaret Pace Park.
Note for the Record: Board Member Regalado stated the need for the City Administration to
enforce the "Pooper Scooper" ordinance at Margaret Pace Park.
Direction to the CRA Adminisfration by Board Member Regalado to contact the the General
Managers of the three major hotels (DoubleTree, Radisson and Marriott) and other hotels in the
surrounding area and ask them to invite their guests, on behalf of the CRA, to the Miami's Time
Capsule Interment Ceremony, which is scheduled for Wednesday, July 28, 2004, at the City of
Miami Cemetery, 1800 N. E. 2ndAvenue, from 10:30 - 11:00 a.m., as well as to the free Happy
Birthday Miami Concert, which is scheduled for Wednesday, July 28, 2004, at Margaret Pace
Park, 1745 N. Bayshore Drive, from 5:30 - 8: 30 p.m.
A motion was made by Board Member Regalado, seconded by Board Member Gonzalez, and was
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passed unanimously, with Vice Chairman Winton and Board Member Sanchez absent, to direct
the CRA Executive Director to facilitate the printing and disbursement of literature necessary to
invite hotel guests and people in the neighborhood to the aforementioned events; further
requesting the Executive Director to seek media that will do remote broadcasts or live shots of
these events; further requesting that the City's cable channel include the Birthday Event as part
of their filming for future broadcasts; further directing the Clerk of the Board to ensure that this
motion is embossed and hand -delivered to the Mayor and the City Manager; further instructing
the Executive Director to record said events 'free lance" if necessary.
[Note: The Clerk emailed this motion on 7-27-04 to the Mayor, the Manager, the Director of
Communications Department and the Executive Director of the CRA.]
Direction to the CRA Administration by Chairman Teele to contact radio stations that have
remote broadcasting, such as Hot 105 and Power 96, and ask them if they can cover the
aforementioned events.
Note for the Record: Chairman Teele suggested that the CRA should suggest to the General
Managers of the aforementioned hotels to provide their guests with a nice card inviting them to
the aforementioned events.
Note for the Record: Chairman Teele stated that the City should authorize funding for a
Communications Division within the Office of the Mayor and a second one for the City
Commission.
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): Item RE. 1 is the -- we have the two budget items for
you tonight; the first being the FY (fiscal year) '05 budget for the Omni CRA (Community
Redevelopment Agency).
Chairman Teele: Now, is this going to be briefed in the budget hearing tomorrow?
Mr. Rollason: Yes, sir. We're on that -- I think what's happened is Mr. Spring has put all the
outside agencies together at one time for a presentation.
Chairman Teele: Yes, and one of the things that we're frying to avoid -- even though this is a
little bit different -- is that the CRA is different from the other agencies, but we're trying to get
those discussions in the context with the Budget Director and everybody there. Are there any
items that you would like to highlight or --
Rollason: Well, I think that of significance is that the capital projects on both of the budgets
that are at the rear should at least be made for the record of what we're looking -- or planning to
go forward with, and pointing out that this process here only budgets that money. It would
require us to come back for the actual expenditures, for the approval, but in the Omni budget, we
are proposing the water main upgrades throughout the Omni CRA, and we've been meeting with
WASA (Water and Sewer Authority) on this. We had a meeting last week with WASA, as a matter
of fact, on that, and they're doing some studies for us, but we're placing $3, 000, 000 towards that
project, and then we're also placing $1, 000, 000 towards the bay walk improvements, which
would run along Margaret Pace Park and behind the Women's Club in that portion. We'd have
to work out some kind of a grant agreement with the Women's Club on that portion, but in the
large picture of trying to connect the bay walk from -- you know, all the way from the project
down at the Point that the City just gave the big grant to to do the bay walk in that area on One
Miami, and make that connection, and this -- both of these are projects that are highlighted in
the Omni Plan, so we've got that money in there, and then in capital -- other capital projects, we
still have some money that's left from the Homeland Defense Neighborhood Improvement bonds,
dealing with Margaret Pace Park, and we've listed those in there, and specifically, talking about
the shade screening and the port in place surface for the tot lot, which needs to be done, and
some riprap shoring that needs to be put on the eastern shore, even regardless of the bay walk,
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needs to be done to keep that shore from further eroding, so we have that money in there also.
Chairman Teele: All right. Mr. Joseph.
Fred Joseph: In regrets to the shading, I'd like to walk to you --
Chairman Teele: You need to make your comments from behind the podium. You can pass it out
Mr. Joseph: Thank you. As you'll see in there --
Chairman Teele: Give us your name and address.
Mr. Joseph: Fred Joseph, Omni Advisory Board President, 1717 North Bayshore Drive, Miami,
33132. What we're hoping to do, as you may see in the brochure that we made up, is enhance
this for the children of the area; would have the use of this park more hours of the day because
of the way that it is laid out, it is very sunny and quite hot, and we've found areas that the County
has done in shading that makes it very nice, and doesn't make it a shelter, so it's quite nice.
Chairman Teele: It makes sense. Fred, do we have a resolution from the Omni Board on this?
Mr. Joseph: I would be happy to --
Chairman Teele: We need a resolution --
Mr. Joseph: -- obtain one for you, absolutely.
Chairman Teele: We need a resolution from you on --
Mr. Joseph: From the Omni Advisory Board?
Chairman Teele: From the Omni Advisory Board.
Mr. Joseph: I'll be happy to work on that for you.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Mr. Joseph: I was very happy to see this in the budget, so it was a --
Chairman Teele: It's in the budget.
Mr. Joseph: Yes.
Chairman Teele: I assume that Commissioner Winton authorized to put it in the budget. He's
not here, but in any event, we need a resolution from the Omni Advisory Board.
Board Member Regalado: But it says request by Omni Advisory Board.
Mr. Joseph: Yes.
Chairman Teele: But we just need a resolution for our records. All right. Fred, and while
you're on that, would you mind convening with our consultant, our planning consultant or the --
who's the current planning consultant we have now?
Unidentified Speaker: Dover Kohl.
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Unidentified Speaker: Zyscovich.
Chairman Teele: Would you mind meeting with our staff and with the planning consultant, and
can we get a list of the items that need to be upgraded in that park, and we need to make sure
you get that over to the CRA, and then we need to have the Parks Director at the next meeting
before we act on this budget, to make sure that they're all right with what we're saying, and we're
in agreement. Specifically, I've had people to approach me about the need for additional -- one
additional tennis court. The Parks Director has got some specific concerns about where
something is, where the dogs are, or something. I don't really know, but the Parks Director
really gives a darn about this, and we really ought to listen to him and get his recommendation.
Mr. Joseph: Be happy to, Chairman.
Chairman Teele: And I think it would be good if we could just get our consultant to sort of
convene a meeting with the Omni Advisory Board, after everybody has been talked to one on
one, and come in with some recommendations.
Mr. Joseph: We'll be happy to. We're working on a wish list for that, and we're -- but as far as
the tot lot and such, we have been working with the Executive Director for quite a while on this
and, actually, he helped us get --
Chairman Teele: What is the Parks Director saying? That's the one that --
Mr. Joseph: I'm sorry. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting the new one.
Chairman Teele: OK, then we need to facilitate -- he's the owner of the park.
Mr. Joseph: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: We're just the rich Dutch uncle for the park, and I will say this, Fred and --
that park is clearly becoming the showplace of the City ofMiami. Everybody wants to have an
event there. I understand that MTV (Music Television) or somebody is talking about having an
event there. We had the Hip Hop Weekend -- or the Memorial Day weekend we had events there,
and I really appreciate the fact that the Omni Advisory Board is embracing the park as a --
really, it's winding up being a City park, a citywide park, and I hope you all will continue to
work with us to make this park the showcase of the world. I will tell you this: the Doubletree,
the Marriott, and the Radisson, really should come to the table --
Mr. Joseph: And the Omni.
Chairman Teele: Omni what?
Mr. Joseph: If we can get the Omni involved with us. That's our biggest neighbor, and we're
trying to work with them.
Chairman Teele: But you have three hotels.
Mr. Joseph: Yes.
Chairman Teele: You have the Radisson, the Doubletree and the Marriott.
Mr. Joseph: Yes.
Chairman Teele: They need to come to the table, as we've suggested two or three times. They
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need to adopt that park, and they need to provide more financial support to that park for the
operations of that park. That park is putting heads in the beds in those hotels. People want to
be near that park, and there's no question about it. The fact that MTVwants to be there, that's
going to put heads in the Doubletree, the Marriott and the Radisson, so we really need to, you
know, go through the advisory board, and to try to get them to adopt the park and make a real
commitment.
Mr. Joseph: We'll be happy to chair something like that, and also, that park, as you have driven
by it now, after ten years of the opposite, is generating the capital improvement that you see
being built around the park, so that helps, as well, and we're very proud of that and very happy
with it.
Chairman Teele: I don't mind saying, seven years ago when -- six years ago when Dick Judy
recommended that we take all of the money we could -- all of the money -- and loan it to the City
ofMiami for the purpose of building that park, and the board agreed to that, over J. L.'s
concerns and objections, who, at that time, was the Parks Director, that was the best decision we
made because everybody wants to be near that park, and I just hope that you all will continue to
embrace the park as a public vehicle, and not feel put upon when we continue -- we may wind up
having to limit it to 30 events a year or something down the road, but for the time being, it's a
great asset.
Mr. Joseph: Thank you very much and, with your help -- I want to put it on the record -- you
helped find some of the funds that we could not locate, as being past with the County
administration, but you did help us very much and we do appreciate it, but again, we don't want
it to become a banned shell, or a monument place, because that's how they ruin good parks. If
you put in monuments, the things that shouldn't be in a park, then we're going to -- then we'll
have a problem, but with your chairmanship and the board of directors, yourselves,
Commissioner Regalado and Mr. Angel Gonzalez, you will help us keep that park in that nature.
We'll work hard to keep it proud for you.
Chairman Teele: Well, thank you. Who is the City representative here? Stephanie, are you the
ranking person here? If you are, would you come to the table here, because we need to make
sure that the Manager gets the word that we really need to get the Parks Director to come in and
be a part of that workshop with the community, and I would like to arrange to do a tour,
Stephanie, with the Parks Director of the Margaret Pace Park. Stephanie, are you with me,
please?
Stephanie Grindell (Director, Public Works): Yes.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner Regalado -- Board Member Regalado.
Board Member Regalado: I just wanted to say that, you know, what we hoped for Margaret
Pace Park, we're getting. I am concerned, though, about the need for the City to adopt the
street, because it looks like -- you know, when you stand in the Golden Heights and see the green
line, Israel and Jordan. The park is beautiful; the street, standing water; the parking meters
couldn't be older and rusted; the curbs are all --
Chairman Teele: Beat up, worn.
Board Member Regalado: -- beat up, worn, gone. Last Sunday, there was a lot of standing
water on that street. The Swale area is not kept and it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense
because it's like to go to a beautiful place, you have to get mud in your shoes and, you know, it's
an irony, so we need to adopt the street. I mean, it's not about you, Fred, but it's the City's
responsibility; it's Off -Street -- Frank, those parking meters are really --
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Mr. Rollason: If we go back in time just a little bit -- and Stephanie is here -- there was a project
proposed to rebuild that Bayshore Drive area. It has to be -- the crown has to be changed, andl
know that the details were worked out some time back, because of the property across the street
with Tibor Hollo, he's getting the flooding into the parking garage, and up into that entrance,
and there was a resolution worked out to where the road has to be -- the actual grading in the
road has to be changed to allow the drainage to take place to go into the bay and, you know,
that project is -- you know, I'm sure it's still there. When we did the park, we did up to the
sidewalk because it became apparent that when the street gets redone with the regarding, they're
going to have to change the sidewalk, all that up to where the walls ofMargaret Pace Park are
going to be changed, because there's a huge drop-off on the west side as you go into the
properties on the other side, and it's not draining properly, as you know, on the east side, and we
get that flooding, so --
Board Member Regalado: Yeah, but the flooding --
Mr. Rollason: Right, there'sADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues also involved with the
access.
Board Member Regalado: -- the flooding is also on the west --
Mr. Rollason: Yes.
Board Member Regalado: -- on the north and the south side --
Mr. Rollason: The other thing I want to point out is that have met with the new Parks Director,
Mr. Burkeen, about this park. He's aware of what we have in the budget for this time. I ran
these items past him. He was the one that wanted me to change and put the port in place surface
for the tot lot, and we added that, instead of leaving the sand, and when his schedule will allow,
he's going to hook up with me so that we can take a run through the park, and he's going to show
me some of the issues that he has, but the money that you see in there on the CIP (Capital
Improvement Projects) portion of the Homeland Defense is not all for the screening and the
riprap; that feature is probably less than a $500, 000 to do both of those, so the additional money
is for the other items that are to be done in the park, including the additional tennis court or
basketball court.
Chairman Teele: All right. Have we talked to the Parks Director of that park? I mean, is their
input involved in this?
Mr. Rollason: Only through the Director of the Parks Department that dealt with. I dealt with
-- I went to the Director of the Parks Department. He said he's going to get with his park's
superintendent at that park, and we'll do whatever -- walk-through. Also, he's scheduled to come
here at the September meeting -- the new Parks Director -- talk about Margaret Pace Park, give
an update on the Ranger Program, and talk about the improvements in the park that he would
like to see. I had invited him to this meeting but it was such a short time span, and he had so
many things to sort of get his teeth into that he thought September would be a better time for him
to come.
Chairman Teele: When is the September meeting?
Mr. Rollason: September 26th.
Chairman Teele: When is the last budget meeting of the City? When is the second budget
hearing?
Board Member Regalado: 27th, 27th.
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Chairman Teele: All right. It would be my intent to take up this budget, finally -- for final action
on the 26th, and in the City Commission, on the 27th. I mean, if he's not coming until the 26th --
Rollason: Well, I mean, he --
Board Member Regalado: Why should it be the 26th? Then the --
Mr. Rollason: It's the last Monday of -- I mean, it's the last --
Board Member Regalado: Then the meeting of the City Commission will be on the 28th, or 20 --
Chairman Teele: When is the last budget hearing, Madam Clerk?
Sylvia Scheider (Assistant City Clerk): September 27th.
Board Member Regalado: 27th.
Chairman Teele: So we're going to have the last budget hearing on a Tuesday?
Mr. Rollason: Our -- my calendar for 2004 shows the 27th on a Monday, and that's our CRA
meeting.
Chairman Teele: All right. Well, why don't we do this? Would you all look to see if we can
move the CRA Board meeting up one week --
Board Member Regalado: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- to the --
Board Member Regalado: It makes sense.
Mr. Rollason: Sure, but -- I mean, the --
Chairman Teele: Excuse me one minute.
Ms. Scheider: The public hearing -- the second public hearing on the budget is September 23rd,
I'm sorry.
Chairman Teele: OK. Well, see, now we've got a real problem. OK. We need to move the CRA
Board meeting from the Monday, the 27th, to Monday, the 20th.
Mr. Rollason: We can move it to 20th.
Chairman Teele: And that means we will take the final action on this budget at the City on the
20 -- what date did you say?
Ms. Scheider: 23rd.
Chairman Teele: -- on the 23rd. Is that right? Is that Monday the 19th, or the 20th?
Mr. Rollason: 20th is the Monday.
Ms. Scheider: Monday is the 20th.
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Chairman Teele: OK, so that'll be the 23rd. OK, so we'll take final action on this on the 23rd.
That'll give us an opportunity to hear from the Parks Director, to hear from everybody --
Mr. Rollason: That's fine.
Chairman Teele: -- and to have the workshop with the planning people on any of the other
changes, because I can tell you, there's a problem with the dog doo-doo and the children, and
something needs to get separated. Excuse my vulgarity.
Mr. Joseph: Yeah, thank you, Chairman, because that was -- the dog and the tot lot --
Chairman Teele: And, see, nobody cares about that, but the Park's Director, that's his big issue
and, you know, these corporate boardroom meetings that everybody's meeting with the directors
is fine, but somebody needs to get down and meet with the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that's dealing
with the dog manure and separate that stuff out because, at the end of the day, that's what's
giving people a bad time --
Mr. Joseph: Correct.
Chairman Teele: -- at that park.
Mr. Rollason: So that is what -- that's what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Parks Director wanted the
time to get with him --
Chairman Teele: Yeah.
Mr. Rollason: -- and see that his issues were --
Board Member Regalado: But that's --
Chairman Teele: In other words, we're the ones that ought to be right there with the guy who's
running the park itself.
Board Member Regalado: But does that guy know that we have an ordinance that people could
be fined by $50?
Chairman Teele: We don't have an ordinance, sir.
Board Member Regalado: Yes, we do.
Chairman Teele: The City has an ordinance. The CRA does not have an ordinance.
Board Member Regalado: But Margaret Pace is within the City limits.
Chairman Teele: Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Board Member Regalado: Well, that's what I'm saying, that the Parks Department should --
Mr. Joseph: Enforce it.
Board Member Regalado: -- enforce. The City Ordinance is the law of the City.
Chairman Teele: I agree.
Mr. Joseph: Thank you.
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Chairman Teele: And I think we need -- there's some real operational issues over there, and
that's one of the reasons that they want park rangers because, basically, the people come out
there and they give the staff the business; they don't have arrest authority. They don't have --
there are a whole lot of issues, Tomas, that you're correct in raising, but I think once we get the
Parks -- the Director of that park, and the Parks Director in that chain of command in here, we'll
be able to have a much better understanding.
Mr. Rollason: And I think you'll find that the Ranger Program is helping somewhat, too, and
that's what he wanted to look at and see what --
Chairman Teele: But I want to go back to Commissioner -- Board Member Regalado's issue
because Stephanie, our Public Works Director, never responded, and this issue is a reoccurring
issue, which Commissioner Regalado has brought up. We need to have a report, respectfully,
from the Manager at the next board meeting on some type of interim plan to deal with the
drainage, and it's even worse for people that are walking on the sidewalk. Those sidewalks are
flooded.
Board Member Regalado: They can't walk.
Chairman Teele: You can't walk. I mean -- and I'm very supportive of not going out there doing
a reconstruction of the road until a lot of that construction has been completed. We've got --
probably got $200, 000, 000 worth of construction going on on that road right now, between
Tibor Hollo's two buildings --
Rollason: 1800 and --
Chairman Teele: --1800 and --
Mr. Rollason: -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Chairman Teele: -- the next one, so I'm not supporting going and reconstructing the road, but
we've got to do something with the sidewalk, and the position that Commissioner Regalado is
relaying to you. It's as bad on the south right next to the Women's Club as it is on the north.
Board Member Regalado: Right.
Ms. Grindell: I'll have it reviewed and come back in the next meeting with an update.
Chairman Teele: OK. Do we need to beat this horse anymore?
Board Member Regalado: No.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner -- Board Member Regalado.
Board Member Regalado: Since we are on Margaret Pace Park, 48 hours from now, we are
going to have the concert to celebrate Miami's birthday. Hilda has done an extraordinary work,
but, you know, I'm concerned because the City's support, in terms of Communications, I have not
seen. I don't know --
Chairman Teele: What day is that, Wednesday?
Mr. Rollason: Wednesday --
Board Member Regalado: Wednesday.
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Mr. Rollason: -- Wednesday evening.
Board Member Regalado: And --
Chairman Teele: Why don't we pass a resolution right now requesting the Manager to redouble
his efforts and -- you know, we can't direct him at CRA Board meeting, but we could at least put
it on his schedule.
Board Member Regalado: Today, I got an e-mail from a person that said that he had heard that
there was going to be a ceremony at the cemetery and a concert at Margaret Pace Park, and that
he's hosting the granddaughter of the founder of where you live, Spring Garden, and she would
like to go, and I said, you know, we'd be honored, but my point is that have not seen anything in
the media. I hope that the Communications office will send out press releases. It would be a
shame to have 10 people at the concert. I mean, not that we want 10,000 people, but it would be
nice. This is very classy.
Chairman Teele: Is there a report on this in the meeting here?
Mr. Rollason: No, sir, there is not, butl can tell you that we have these flyers that have been put
around throughout the area --
Board Member Regalado: Beautiful, beautiful.
Chairman Teele: But why don't we just pause on this and ask Hilda to come up and give us a
report so that the board members are all on the same plane, and I commend Commissioner
Regalado again for bringing it to our attention. Fred, did you -- sir, did you all have anything
else?
Mr. Joseph: No, sir. On another agenda, but if you're done with Margaret Pace --
Chairman Teele: Really, we're not done with Margaret Pace, but --
Mr. Joseph: Well, I'll stay.
Chairman Teele: Yes, ma'am.
Eleanor Klueger: I would like to say a few words.
Chairman Teele: Please. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Klueger: OK Eleanor Klueger, 1000 Venetian Way, past president of the Omni Advisory
Board, when we were building Margaret Pace Park. I'd just like to say, you built a jewel. It is
even more beautiful than we thought would happen. Everyday when I pass by there and I see the
crowds of people that it has drawn, it does my heart good to see this happening. We promised
that we would try to keep up, you know, with the residents that live around there to make sure
that it is -- stays a jewel. Fred is right, though, we can't have too many events. I mean, as we go
along here, we need to walk slowly, until we figure out exactly how to run this type of a park that
is a jewel for all of the downtowners, but is also a park in the middle of a lot of residents, and so,
it's a combination of things, but anyway, I just want to thank you all for doing what you did and
going -- stepping out and supporting it, and giving it your all. A lot of the problems you're
talking about right now, we knew going into this. The water that you're talking about, Public
Works knew about it; there wasn't money to fix it. The parking situation has never been fixed.
The exfra things that you're asking for the park, we wanted, but, again, the funding was limited.
We did a fabulous job with the monies that we were able to obtain at the time, and I hope that
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we'll be able to get the other things. The kids had a nice summer on their tot lot, but they got a
lot of sunburn, and we'd like to have them. That's one of the things that is important to the
children that go and play out there, so that was the shade business that we're talking about, and
the other things, of course, anything that will build the park and make it nicer for all, this is what
we're after, so I thank you.
Chairman Teele: Ms. Klueger, we thank you, and we recognize that you were the president of
the association when we labored hard, and sometimes, in a -- in what would be called, in
diplomatic language, open and candid discussions. That means a knock down, drag out fight,
but we've come through this together, but the CRA Board does not deserve the credit, at all; the
citizens in the association and the citizens in the City ofMiami. Money in this park is not a
problem, and it has not been a problem since the voters approved the Homeland Defense Bond
issue and the Commission agreed to put the full funding for that park in that bond issue, and
again, we're making our commitment, you know, and I think one of the things that has made this
City different over the last four or five years, is that we've tried -- the Board has tried to live up
to our promises, but it is because you and others supported the Homeland Defense Bond, the 255
, that we're able to say that money's not a problem for that, in addition to the fact that that park
has induced so much development that we literally have every obligation to maintain that park
because the tax increment that is being created is more than sufficient for that park. I just wish
that park were in my district, and I'm sure the others do, too, but the fact of the matter is, it is
where it is, and it's a jewel of the City. We will work with you in the coming years -- upcoming
months, to put limitations on the number of events that are there, and I'm frying to get the three
hotels to come to the table, because they're the ones who really should be having events there,
and some of them have already began to do that.
Ms. Klueger: One other thing that I wanted to mention was that I go back even a longer time
than you with the park, and there wasn't money at the very beginning. People that didn't know
the park, or the area, wanted to put high lights up there and fence it in. I mean, these were the
things that we had money for, and this -- if it had not been for the residents of the area coming in
and talking, and having a meeting with the Parks people, we would have had high-rise lights that
shown into the other apartments; we would have had a fence around there; we would have had a
tot lot of some sort, but at the time, there were no -- very few children living there, so the things
that these City -- or the County, whoever it was, the Parks people recommended were not the
things that we needed. We needed a master plan, and that's what we finally began to work on,
and then you entered, and then the City and the bond issue, and everything came to fruition and
we got what we needed, but I do want to say, too, that I think the neighbors should be included in
some of these meetings because, again, if we get a fence around there and we get things that we
don't really think we need, the residents there should be the ones --
Chairman Teele: The Omni Advisory Board should facilitate the coordination of everybody that
should be at the table. We're counting on you to bring the neighbors and anyone else, the
businesses and anyone else that's appropriate, Ms. Klueger.
Ms. Klueger: OK
Chairman Teele: We don't want to start creating two boards and two committees. We have a
good committee. The Omni Advisory Board has got subcommittees. You work well, and what we
need to do is have a meeting through that board, in which you all are impaneled to bring in all
of the neighborhoods.
Ms. Klueger: That's fine, and if you'll notify us when you're going to get the City and the County
Parks people, et cetera, ready and on board, we'll be there.
Chairman Teele: The County has nothing to do with this. The County Parks people have
nothing to do with this. We do need --
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Ms. Klueger: And Public Works.
Chairman Teele: -- South Florida Water Management District, and some other entities that have
the shoreline; we need their monies, but this is a City park --
Ms. Klueger: Right.
Chairman Teele: -- and the County could only wish.
Ms. Klueger: OK I was just worried about Public Works. Sometimes on the streets -- we never
know who owns the street.
Chairman Teele: Is that our street, Stephanie, North River Drive?
Mr. Rollason: Yes.
Ms. Grindell: I'm not sure.
Chairman Teele: North Bayshore Drive.
Ms. Grindell: Frank says it is.
Mr. Rollason: It's ours.
Chairman Teele: OK, so it's 100 percent City, so everything wrong is -- you've got all of us here
to get it done. We need to move on, if we can, Fred. We're not leaving this issue, so let's take
another component of it. Hilda, at the request of Commissioner Regalado, can you give us a
little bit of an update, and where can we get more support for this effort?
Hilda Tejera: Of course. Hilda Tejera, Special Events Coordinator for CRA. We have been
under the -- actually, basically, direction of our Executive Director, Frank Rollason. The way
that we have actually let people know of the existence of these two events that happen to be the --
in the morning, we do have the City ofMiami time capsule burial ceremony. I understand that
you -- that was kind of an issue from Commissioner Regalado, and it will be done in the City of
Miami Cemetery at 10 o'clock, and we had actually used three ways: We had used the flyers, the
big poster has been created, as well as the flyer, and we used the flyer also as an invitation. We
have hand delivered to every one of the organizations in question with the time capsule. This
burial -- and we have a lot of artists (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for the first event in the morning. I
just had a meeting -- I was part of a staff meeting at 2 o'clock in the afternoon today, at the office
of Communications, and what is going to happen is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they were actually
notified and they have a package, the same one that handed to you, Commissioner Regalado,
about a week ago, and now they're going to let the media know, today and tomorrow, of this. In
fact, I have contacted individual George (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you know, that is the Vice
President ofMarketing of the four stations (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and in the other hand, the other
thing that we have done is, actually, we have two people hand delivering invitations, OK, to the
various organizations, including the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and so on, and so on. It is true that --
oh, besides that, I think that Labor Relations, through Rosalie Mark, actually had invited every
employee in the City of the park and time.
Board Member Regalado: But let me tell you something. Excuse me, Hilda, and Mr. Chair,
Board Member Gonzalez. Frank -- and Fred and Eleanor, I think that what the City -- what the
CRA has put together is a very, very classy event, the one in Margaret Pace Park. It's not, you
know, a -- one of those -- the Comcast Saturdays in the Park, where we have a clown and all that
. This is classy because Miami's birthday deserves that, so I think that we should at least contact
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the general managers of the hotels, the three hotels in the area, even go further. Go all around
the CRA Omni area of all those hotels, and ask them to invite --
Chairman Teele: Their guests.
Board Member Regalado: -- their guests as our guests to this free concert; meet one of our
orchestras, see one of our beautiful parks. We -- you're here visiting Miami; we want you to just
come back and spend a few minutes celebrating Miami's birthday. That's basically the most
important issue, because that is what would generate the good will and commentary around the
park. I think that maybe it's too late to get residents throughout Miami to come because the
City's going to notify the news media, and the news media are going to cover the event, but
they're not going to publicize. The process to get public service spots on the air, as you know,
it's not like from today to tomorrow; it takes time, so that -- it's over. We cannot do, but whatl
think, if we can get people, even from the Hyatt, transportation from the Hyatt to bring people
and enjoy part, or the whole concert, it would serve its purpose, and we will be showcasing one
of South Florida's most beautiful parks. I mean, the view, the park, everything, and orchestra,
who can say no to that? So, you know --
Ms. Tejera: Sir, I agree with you. One of the person and residents that's actually is helping me
with this is Mr. Fred Joseph.
Mr. Joseph: I'll be happy to see that all of our -- in fact, I am on the board of directors for the --
Board Member Regalado: The Grand.
Mr. Joseph: -- one of the facilities there.
Board Member Regalado: Yeah.
Mr. Joseph: If you will, you know -- Executive Director and Hilda will get me material, I'll see
that every one of our guests in all the facilities are totally invited.
Chairman Teele: Well, why don't we do this: Commissioner, why don't you move that the
Executive Director is directed to facilitate the printing and the disbursement of the literature
necessary to invite all of the guests from the hotels, as well as people in the neighborhood, as
well as seeking to -- Hilda, listen to me right now. Hilda, Hilda, Hilda.
Ms. Tejera: I'm sorry, sir.
Chairman Teele: -- seeking to bring in radio stations for remote broadcast during this event.
We can -- would you consider moving that for discussion?
Board Member Regalado: I will and, to me, I think it's a little late, but maybe we can just get
some media to do some live shots at 6 TV (television) and radio station, but do move that as a
direction to the Executive Director to facilitate -- those are beautiful advertisements.
Board Member Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: Now, does the City Communications Department plan to cover these two
events live, with Net-9?
Board Member Regalado: No. Live, no, but on tape, maybe.
Chairman Teele: But on -- do they plan to film this for --
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Ms. Tejera: Time capsule, yes --
Board Member Regalado: The what?
Ms. Tejera: -- the happy birthday -- the concert, no, but --
Chairman Teele: Would you amend the motion, please, to also add a request that the Net-9
include the birthday as a part of filming for Net-9 for a future broadcast, if not live?
Board Member Regalado: I so move.
BoardMember Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: So the amendments are there and, Madam Clerk, would you make sure that we
get this embossed and up so that we can sign it tonight and get it hand delivered to the Mayor
and Manager?
Board Member Regalado: Why are not they (UNINTELLIGIBLE) --
Ms. Tejera: Anyway --
Board Member Regalado: What's the reason?
Ms. Tejera: I don't know why, but, anyway, sir -- but, anyway, I contacted an in -kind
contribution of a freelancing cameraman and it's going to be covered.
Chairman Teele: What's going to be covered?
Ms. Tejera: The concert is going to be covered.
Board Member Regalado: By who?
Ms. Tejera: I got a freelancing cover it, and what I did, I asked Ms. Penton to actually -- to
provide the tapes to me that, at least that -- you know, we don't have to go through that expense.
Chairman Teele: All right. Well, hold on, Hilda. You need -- the motion implicit in the request
also includes a proviso that the Executive Director is authorized to bring in freelance and
whatever to record the event, if that's the problem for the City, so we need to make sure that
motion, Jim, is complete, including the authority to do that. On the motion, all in favor, say "aye
The BoardMembers (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Now, Hilda, there are about three or four radio stations that
have remote broadcast; Hot 105 -- not EDR (sic), not The Beat -- Hot 105, Power 96; some of
these stations that do these remotes, we need to use the CRA offices to contact them and invite
them to come out and cover --
Tejera: Sir, I already invited (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Baltimore, and he's actually going to talk
about it --
Chairman Teele: He's Hot 105, right?
Ms. Tejera: Yes.
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Chairman Teele: But is he going to do a remote broadcast? That's what brings out the crowd.
The remote broadcast is what brings out the crowd. When Power 96 does a remote broadcast,
when HOT 105 does a remote broadcast, you know, that's when you get the crowd being brought
out, and that's what given the time line where we are now, we need remote broadcast.
Ms. Tejera: OK. Incidentally, we left enough material for Mr. Joseph in order for him to help
us, like he always do, to distribute the flyers around the residences --
Chairman Teele: OK. What I have in mind is -- that's fine, but when you go into very nice hotels
-- I stayed in a "W" last night, one of the nicest hotels I've stayed in a long time. They have a
little card there from the manager, or from the general manager. They invite you to a reception,
or a tea, or a cocktail. We need to put some -- a nice card together that can come from the
general manager of these hotels for their guests, that we can just put into the room, and they'll be
more than happy -- and people like that kind of stuff and it gives -- again, we need to be in
partnership with the three individual hotels --
Board Member Regalado: Absolutely.
Chairman Teele: -- because we need to get them to come in and adopt this thing. They need to
be paying for the rangers on the operating cost side, in the long run.
Ms. Tejera: All right, sir.
Chairman Teele: OK. Further discussion. All right. Listen, I think we owe you, Commissioner
Regalado, a real debt of gratitude. Just so that everybody is clear, the time capsule will be
buried at 10 a.m., and Commissioner Regalado, who has really bulldogged this and bird-dogged
it, will be presiding, and will be officiating, and then we're going to have the happy birthday
concert that involves the Black Archives and the Florida Chamber Orchestra, along with a
historic exhibit of Overtown, all there at the Margaret Pace Park, and I just think this is just, as
he has said, a classy event, and I really commend you, Commissioner, for the leadership.
Board Member Regalado: And thank you, Frank and Hilda. I still say that I just don't
understand why the Communications Department is not covering Miami's Happy Birthday.
Chairman Teele: Well --
Board Member Regalado: To me, that's something that I do not understand.
Chairman Teele: Well, I think what needs to happen is when we get into the budget meeting, we
need to make sure that the Communications office -- I can tell you right off the bat. The Mayor
needs to have his own Communications Division in the Mayor's office, and the City needs to have
a Communications Department. Right now, if the Mayor doesn't go somewhere, the
Communications office doesn't support it, and that's just the -- you know, that's the secret that
everybody knows. Everybody whispers about it; everybody talks about it and, you know, I can
understand the Communications Director, coming from the Mayor's office in that job, not having
the big picture view, but we need to authorize and fund a Communications Director within the
office of the Mayor, and then we need to fund, separately, a Communications Department for the
City, and that's the problem, is we've got a merger there with one person doing two jobs, and one
of the jobs isn't being done, so there's no need to get mad or get upset. Let's just straighten it out
financially.
Board Member Regalado: Yeah, but the Mayor has a press secretary.
Chairman Teele: I don't think he does right now.
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Board Member Regalado: Yes, he does. It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's a young man.
Chairman Teele: I don't know.
RE.2 04-00824 CRA RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SOUTHEAST
OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("CRA
"), WITH ATTACHMENT(S), APPROVING AND ADOPTING THE CRA'S
PROPOSED GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AND TAX INCREMENT FUND
BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING OCTOBER 1, 2004 AND
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2005; AND DIRECTING THE EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR TO TRANSMIT COPY OF EACH BUDGET TO THE CITY OF
MIAMI AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
DEFERRED
RE.2 was DEFERRED to the CRA meeting currently scheduled for September 20, 2004.
A motion was made by Board Member Gonzalez, seconded by Board Member Regalado, and was
passed unanimously, with Vice Chairman Winton and Board Member Sanchez absent, to hold
CRA Board Meetings commencing September 2004 - January 2005 within the Omni
Redevelopment District,• further directing that the Executive Director provide written public
notice of said board meetings.
Note for the Record: The Chairman called for a CRA Town Hall Meeting to be held on
Saturday, August 21, 2004 from 9 a.m. -12 noon and the notices for said Town Hall Meeting
will be disseminated through the Chairmans' office.
Direction to the Executive Director by Board Member Regalado to inquire why today's CRA
Board Meeting is not being televised.
Chairman Teele: All right. Next item.
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): The next item is RE.2.
Board Member Gonzalez: Did we approve RE.1 ? Did we vote on it?
Mr. Rollason: Well, you said we're going to do that on September --
Chairman Teele: The budget item is here for information.
Board Member Gonzalez: Oh, OK.
Mr. Rollason: All right. RE.2 is the budget presentation for the Southeast Overtown/Park West,
and again --
Chairman Teele: And it's here for information.
Mr. Rollason: It's here for information. The projects are at the --
Chairman Teele: Now, when are we going to have the town hall meeting, and when are we
going to have the literature put together for my review of the town hall meeting for August?
Mr. Rollason: Mr. Chairman, you and I were going to discuss that at a meeting we were going
to have the other day, and when -- I'm frying to reschedule that now so I can come up with a time
and exactly how you want to go forward with that.
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Chairman Teele: All right. Well, let's shoot for the third Saturday or the fourth Saturday in
August.
Mr. Rollason: Right. I figured it would be the latter part ofAugust and we'll nail that down --
Chairman Teele: When are they going to sell this building?
Mr. Rollason: August 10th, I believe.
Chairman Teele: How long is it going to take them to close, Madam Attorney?
Maria J. Chiaro (Interim City Attorney): I'm not sure. It's a relatively quick closing, I know that
Chairman Teele: Are we talking about relatively like 72 hours, or relatively like --
Ms. Chiaro: No, relatively like within a month.
Chairman Teele: So within 30 days?
Ms. Chiaro: Yes.
Chairman Teele: I mean, does anybody know what the closing schedule is on this? So we will
have it -- if we have it on August -- if you have the auction on August 12th --
Rollason: 10th.
Chairman Teele: August 10th -- it will still be in the month ofAugust. It will not have closed, so
we can still schedule that, and we need to just go ahead and do that. Tangle Butterfield, can you
get with Chelsa or somebody, and can you all agree on a date, right here, right now, and let's
come back and get this done.
Mr. Rollason: And the other item that I'm working on is a place for us to start handling our
meetings. In September, we have to have another venue. I would assume we won't be in here.
Chairman Teele: Well, I would ask somebody to move that we meet in the Doubletree.
Mr. Rollason: I met today with Ms. Grimes and she's working out a package for me to get into
something a little long-term so we can do better on the price. We've been hitting them sort of
one at a time, and it's expensive.
Chairman Teele: Well, would somebody move that we will meet within the Omni Redevelopment
District?
Board Member Gonzalez: So move.
Board Member Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: The reason for the motion is, for years, we met downtown, outside of either the
Southeast Overtown or the Omni District. Right now, we're in the Southeast Overtown District,
and we'll move these meetings to the Omni District, which gives us at least three venues, the
Radisson, the Marriott, and again, the Grand.
Mr. Rollason: The Grand.
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Chairman Teele: So --
Mr. Rollason: We'll work on --
Chairman Teele: -- with this motion, you'll have the flexibility to negotiate with all three of
them, and any other place. All those in favor of the motion, say "aye."
The Board Members (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed. And the Executive Director is impaneled to provide written
notice, and notice in the press --
Board Member Regalado: How about the Lyric?
Chairman Teele: The Lyric is under construction.
Mr. Rollason: And it won't be ready.
Board Member Regalado: It won't be ready?
Mr. Rollason: No.
Chairman Teele: No, no. The Lyric --
Board Member Regalado: It will be ready.
Chairman Teele: No, sir. The Lyric opening is scheduled for -- when is it, November? Minda.
Give us your name and address for the record.
Minda Logan: Minda Logan, the Black Archives, 5400 Northwest 22ndAvenue. Good evening.
The Lyric, at this point, is scheduled to open some time early in the new year. We may be
available for soft opening events before that, but the rate the construction's going and getting
our Certificate of Occupancy, I would not want to promise anything too early.
Chairman Teele: So you're saying January, February?
Ms. Logan: Yes, I am.
Chairman Teele: Let's fry to get it done at least by February, Black History Month.
Ms. Logan: Yes. That is our plan.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Board Member Regalado: That was my point; that eventually it will be done. I mean, this is not
in the center in Biscayne Boulevard, and ifyou make a long-term lease with the Grand, or the
Doublefree, we need to some time schedule some meetings in the Lyric.
Mr. Rollason: I think that's possible, and you also have to understand -- I think they're looking
to jump into another phase of construction, if we're able to pull everything together, with the
backside of that theater, so just about as quickly as they complete what they've got going now --
Board Member Regalado: That's (INAUDIBLE). That's in January -- in February.
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Mr. Rollason: Right.
Chairman Teele: Let's just get through December --
Mr. Rollason: I understand.
Chairman Teele: -- and the January meeting. The motion is basically limited to the four months
ofAugust -- I mean, September, October, November, December, January -- five months --
Rollason: OK.
Chairman Teele: -- and then come back, and we'll figure out where we are.
Mr. Rollason: I mean, the February meeting, it would be great to be able to hold it at the Lyric.
If they're in operation, that'll be a good time for us to be back there.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Rollason: Again, the projects -- the capital projects for the Southeast Overtown/Park West
are at the rear of the package that we have proposed. The top projects are dealing with TIF (
Tax Increment Fund) money. The next group is the CIP (Capital Improvement Projects) money
that's restricted to office, which we have an item to discuss a little bit later in the agenda, and the
bottom package is the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) money that is left for us to
expend and what we've got in there in the way of land and the Grand Promenade and the
sidewalks.
Chairman Teele: Is Mr. McKnight here, or anybody from the Overtown Advisory Board? All
right. Mr. Cutler. The board members -- contrary to what you have read in the Miami Herald,
every project that has been done in the Overtown -- Southeast Overtown/Park West District has
gone before a citizens' vote and referendum, project by project by project. There's not one
project -- although the Herald went through this long expose of saying that there was dah, dah,
dah, dah, dah. There's not one project that the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) has
done in the Southeast Overtown area, that I'm aware of that was not submitted to a vote. The
town hall meeting that we're talking about will be a point where the entire projects, that I will be
referring to them as the district Commissioner, will be submitted for a vote. Those votes are
recorded; they're administered by the Clerk's office, and there's a recorded vote for every
project, so I just want to make sure, Mr. Cutler, that you all are on board. You know, we bring
the Overtown Advisory Board to those meetings, and we basically confer with you all
beforehand, but as you know, we take it to a vote. There are at least 75 people voting on every
project that we do that are certified residents or business owners in Overtown.
Charles Cutler: Right.
Chairman Teele: So that's what we need to do. We need to get the literature done so that we
can get it mailed out in a timely manner.
Mr. Rollason: We have the date for that meeting when this is available. It would be Saturday,
August 21 st, from nine until noon.
Chairman Teele: OK, so it will be Saturday, August 21 st, at 9 a.m.
Mr. Rollason: 9 a.m.
Chairman Teele: And we'll get the notices out --
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Mr. Rollason: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: -- through my office. We'll provide the notices, as always. All right. Thank
you, Mr. Cutler.
Mr. Cutler: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right. Number 4.
Board Member Regalado: This is Number 3, right?
Chairman Teele: Item Number 3 is the August town hall meeting.
Mr. Rollason: No, no. That will come back at -- this one -- the budget will come back at the
September 20th meeting.
Chairman Teele: The budget will be acted upon finally at the September 20th meeting. We will
be discussing the budget in the budget workshop on Thursday. We will be discussing the budget
again at the town hall meeting, and we will be taking final action on the Omni budget and the
CRA budget on the Monday, September 20th meeting, with final action being taken by the City
Commission on Thursday, August 23rd.
Board Member Regalado: September.
Chairman Teele: September 23rd.
Board Member Regalado: Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Rollason: September 20 -- yes, you're correct.
Chairman Teele: This board will pass it on September 20th, Monday. The City Commission, we
will submit it to them for final passage during the second budget reading on September --
Thursday, September 23rd. Board Member Regalado.
Board Member Regalado: Question. Maybe the Executive Director can find out officially why
this CRA Board meeting is not being filmed to be broadcast on Miami TV (television).
Mr. Rollason: I just realized that tonight when we talked about it. Why -- I mean, the notices
went out, and they usually show up here to film it.
Board Member Regalado: What is -- there was a resolution of the City Commission to broadcast
all boards, including the CRA, and --
Mr. Rollason: I'll have to follow up and see --
Board Member Regalado: Madam City Attorney, what happens if the administration does not
follow a resolution?
Chairman Teele: Well, one thing's for sure, nothing here, because this is a CRA Board. We
can't direct the City administration here.
Board Member Regalado: It was passed by the City Commission.
Chairman Teele: But that's something we'll have to take up on Thursday.
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Board Member Regalado: No, but I'm just asking so I know.
Chairman Teele: Nothing.
Board MemberRegalado: Nothing. That's what I wanted to hear, but --
Chairman Teele: I mean, you can always deal with it during the budget meeting. You find out
who the person is, or the department is that doesn't do it, and you just start -- you start by
reducing that budget by 50 percent. That's what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) used to do to the
Transportation Department. Every time he got mad at the FAA (Federal Aviation
Administration) administrator -- in fact, it got so bad, he couldn't even get in his own jets to fly.
He had to have a certificate from the airline that there were no convenient airline services within
24 hours. You could take away their car allowance, or something, maybe.
Board Member Regalado: OK. I just think that the public needs to know. That's all. I mean,
it's not that we want to be on TV or something, but it's just that by not broadcasting this, some of
the interested parties may never know because we're talking to the people present here, and it is
negligent on the part of the government not to inform the people, so I'm just saying that
something is very wrong here.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, your point is well taken.
RE.3 04-00825 CRA RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SOUTHEAST
OVERTOWN/PARK WEST COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO COMMENCE NON-
BINDING NEGOTIATIONS WITH ROYAL PALM ENTERTAINMENT, LLC ("
RPE") FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OFFICE BUILDING ON RPE-
OWNED PROPERTY ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE GRAND PROMENADE
BETWEEN NORTH MIAMI AVENUE ON THE WEST AND THE U-HAUL
PROPERTY ON THE EAST TO INCLUDE PERMANENT OFFICES FOR THE
SOUTHEAST OVERTOWN/PARK WEST AND OMNI REDEVELOPMENT
DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES AND AN "
ENVIRONMENTAL HOTEL" FOR THE CLUBS ALONG THE GRAND
PROMENADE; FURTHER DIRECTING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO
PRESENT THE RESULTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS TO THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS FOR REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION
Cover Memo- Royal Palm Entertainment.pdf
Legislation- Royal Palm Entertainment.pdf
Motion by Board Member Regalado, seconded by Board Member Gonzalez, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 3 - Board Member Gonzalez, Board Member Regalado and Chairman Teele
Absent: 2 - Vice Chairman Winton and Board Member Sanchez
CRA-R-04-0001
Direction to the Executive Director by Chairman Teele to meet with the Overtown Advisory
Board prior to bringing a recommendation back to the board regarding a " first source" type
hiring agreement.
Chairman Teele: Number 4.
Mr. Rollason: RE. 4 -- and just for the record, I want to make you aware, if you haven't picked
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up on tonight, this is the first night that we're on the Legistar system, and that's why it's -- well,
maybe, why it's a little difficult to follow this go round, but we have worked out a way for the
next agenda that the items will be numbered sequentially, and we'll be able to go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and
still be on the Legistar system, and I think that would be helpful for bouncing around. Anyway,
RE.4 -- I mean, RE.3 deals with a recommendation to allow me to begin some preliminary
discussions and negotiations with Royal Palm Entertainment, LLC. It is dealing with the
feasibility of us partnering with them for some office space, and also for the building of an office
facility in the Park West area.
Chairman Teele: Now, my Number 4 -- excuse me -- is David Cartwell.
Board Member Regalado: My Number 4 is Art Basel.
Mr. Rollason: This is RE.3.
Board Member Regalado: RE.3. We are on RE.3.
Mr. Rollason: We're on RE.3, and RE.3 is authorization to negotiate with Royal Palm
Entertainment.
Chairman Teele: Do we have a memorandum from Commissioner -- Board Member Winton on
this yet?
Mr. Rollason: I do not have a memorandum. What we did was, he -- I presented the package to
him. He requested that I meet with you on it because, originally, it was in his district. I met with
you. You requested this to come on the agenda, and what would happen is, is we would do some
preliminary negotiations and bring some items back to everybody to look at and see if it's
something you wish to pursue.
Chairman Teele: When is this event?
Mr. Rollason: There's no time line on this. This is an event to negotiate -- or an item to
negotiate for some -- for a joint venture on a project together. The CRA (Community
Redevelopment Agency) would participate in the land immediately behind the Grand Promenade
. We were talking about the environmental hotel issue, and the --
Board Member Regalado: What is an environmental hotel?
Chairman Teele: The environmental hotel is something that I came up with, and it really
involves the space directly behind these clubs, which is the Grand Promenade, which is the
abandoned railroad right-of-way. It's not an alleyway. It is land owned by fee simple absolute
by the CRA. It's very important to understand that this is not vacated land. This is a property,
just like anybody else owns property. We own that alleyway. Unfortunately for the property
owners, we own all the way up to the building, to the actual flush wall of the building, is the way
the railroad -- this was railroad land that we acquired, which means that, legally, there's not one
place that any of those buildings can have dumpsters or anything outside of the back of those
buildings, so those buildings, literally, are landlocked, you know. You can't have the dumpster
in the front on 11 th Street, and legally, the dumpsters that are back there are all on our property,
and we have had a very, very laissez-faire attitude. We met with the club owners four years ago;
we met with them again three years ago, and we've told them that we would just basically let
them use our land, free of charge, as an inducement so that they could, in fact, get the clubs built
out, but we also told them that, based upon the Dover Kohl study, it was our goal to make that
alleyway a Grand Promenade, sort of like Lincoln Road, so that most of the traffic will be
coming into those clubs, not from 11 th Street, but from the back, or the Grand Promenade.
Some of those clubs have responded very positively, which means, when they designed the clubs,
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they built the entranceways both on 11 th Sfreet, and the entranceways on -- from the alleyway,
or the Grand Promenade. That's very important because most of the buildings put the HVAC (
Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning), the bathrooms flush against the wall, which means
that when we open up the Grand Promenade, those clubs are going to be obsolete the day they
open up -- the day we open that up, or they're going to wind up having to spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars to redo their clubs, because we're going to drive that alleyway as a Lincoln
Road. I mean, it's -- that is not a negotiable item, and we've told everybody that time, after time,
after time. Now, most people, candidly, didn't believe us because, you know, why believe
government, and you can't argue with them about that. The -- so the sanitation becomes this: If
you open your club up from the alleyway, where are you going to have the Dempster Dumpster?
Where are you going to have the frash? Where are you going to bring in the ice? Where are
you going to do all of those things, because all you have is 11 th Sfreet, and now the Grand
Promenade or Lincoln Road, or whatever, so what we proposed was to buy a piece of land,
which is currently owned by Mr. Mirmelli, Greg Mirmelli, which is the vacant lot right behind
Club Space and Captain Harry's -- is it Captain Harry's?
Mr. Rollason: Well, actually, it's down by Space and behind the U-haul, just west of the U-haul.
Chairman Teele: It's just west of the U-haul, but what's to the west of Space? What's the --
Mr. Rollason: Nocturnal is there, and then the other club on the -- in other words, Captain
Harry is --
Chairman Teele: Between Space --
Mr. Rollason: -- across the street.
Chairman Teele: Between Space and Miami Avenue is a piece of land, and this is the subject of
land where we were in the fight -- I was in the fight with Off-Sfreet Parking about buying, and
Off-Sfreet Parking -- and, you know, they went to the newspaper and they sicced the newspaper
on us, but in the meantime, while we fought, Greg Mirmelli, fine gentleman being that he is,
bought it out from under everybody's nose and -- great American tradition is stealing while
everybody is not looking -- he stole the land from us. Now, whatHr. Mirmelli has agreed to do
is allow us to -- the CRA to buy the ground floor, let's say, the land closest -- the easternmost
portion of the land, the land closest to the U-haul, and we would, in effect, put in one
compressing unit where all of the frash -- all of the clubs could take -- roll their trash over with -
- like a golf cart. It would all be compressed, and the trash for one club would go into one chute,
the trash from another club would go into another chute and, in effect, rather than having what
you have out there now, which are Dempster Dumpsters overflowing -- if you drive back there
now, it's a disgrace -- it would --
Board Member Regalado: I've done that. There were -- that was my comment, that --
Chairman Teele: It's a disgrace, and we're going to deal with that later on today, because we're
going to give somebody a license, at least until we can come up with something, to get this whole
place cleaned up back there, but in effect, what we would do is, we would own and maintain a
condominium. If we allowed Mr. Mirmelli to own that, it would be tantamount to giving him a
sole source for waste disposal in the whole club district, and I can assure you that he would
make Wayne Huizenga look like a piper with the rates he would wind up charging the clubs to
dispose of their waste. We can afford to do it because we're not in it to make money, per se,
we're in it for the service, because we make the money when the clubs invest. You know, they
build out, they build up, they pay the taxes, and that has been the whole concept, and he, to Mr.
Mirmelli's credit, engaged an architect who has designed this sort of a --
Board Member Regalado: I understand.
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Chairman Teele: -- condominium where everybody would -- we would own it, and then they
would come in and lease from us the space, and we would basically have one compacting system.
We would have refrigeration and air conditioning so that the trash is -- they've done this before
in South Carolina with some fish markets and that kind of stuff so that it, in effect, would be just
like a condominium. It would be temperature controlled. It would have sanitary -- you know, be
sanitized, and the clubs would then have the ability to operate, and theoretically, the clubs from
a block away and a block north -- west of that would all have the opportunity to come in there.
Board Member Regalado: OK. I understand.
Mr. Rollason: So what this does is allow me to at least begin the preliminary discussions, and it
certainly doesn't tie us into anything, but it will allow us to start to work out some parameters,
and then bring them back and meet with you, and see how you want to go forward.
Board Member Regalado: I move it.
Board Member Gonzalez: Second.
Chairman Teele: On discussion, I strongly recommend this. I think, you know, just so that it is
very clear, the CRA has had $2, 000, 000 that was a bond issue, going all the way back to 1993, '
94, prior to my getting here, and it was a part of a bond issue that the City did at least 10 years
ago or more, and based on the interest rates, I mean, it's probably got about another $500, 000.
Mr. Rollason: 2.6 now.
Chairman Teele: It's 2.6; another $600,000. When the bond issue was done, it was done for the
CRA to develop or purchase an office space, so the goal would be, we would use some of this
money to both do the condominium, and to do the build out of office space, and the CRA would
have a first-class office with, hopefully, a meeting room that could accommodate most of its
public meetings --
Mr. Rollason: Yes.
Chairman Teele: -- and the funds, of course, are there. It can only be used for that purpose, and
the idea is that that condominium of one floor would basically be a part of this development. We
also have every reason to believe that Terremark is considering moving their headquarters there,
because this would be right across the street from the NAP (Network Area Point), and there are
at least one or two architectural firms that are looking at moving their offices there, so what
we're looking at is a joint development kind of thing that would have retail on the bottom, with
the environmental condominium, a lot of parking -- obviously, that's where the premium is going
to be, and having parking right next to all of the clubs, and then -- Greg, you want to just put on
the record what you're proposing?
Seth Gordon: Greg is shy.
Chairman Teele: You need -- hold on. That's totally inconsistent with the truth.
Mr. Gordon: That's what he told me. He was going to throw me up here. I'm Seth Gordon and
we represent the company. It's just they'd like to have the discussion with -- you described it very
accurately.
Chairman Teele: What is he proposing to build there?
Mr. Gordon: An office building -- Greg, do you want to -- I mean, Greg, stop being shy, for
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god's sake. I'll be your front man only to a point.
Chairman Teele: That was a short point.
Greg Mirmelli: Greg Mirmelli, Royal Palm Entertainment. Proposed is 216,000 square foot
building with about 200 of office, and 16 with retail downstairs.
Chairman Teele: How many parking spaces?
Mr. Mirmelli: About 500. I think it's about 6 floors, about 80 cars per floor.
Chairman Teele: Now, what's happening is, the public has waited, and waited, and waited for
the CRA, the City and Off -Street Parking, and the DOT (Department of Transportation) to do it.
I think the public is right, you know. We've been promising parking for three years straight. I
still don't know where it stands, so we have at least two requests now to build parking. The club
Goldrush is also moving now through the Planning Department, and apparently, they have all of
the necessary permits to build a parking garage there. There's going to be about 500 car spaces.
You all are looking at 500 spaces, and if the DOT is still moving forward, I suppose, slowly --
Mr. Rollason: Yes.
Chairman Teele: -- and building how many parking spaces?
Mr. Rollason: Under I-395?
Chairman Teele: How many?
Mr. Rollason: I think it's like 350 spaces.
Chairman Teele: Building about 350 spaces underneath 395, but there is a tremendous demand
and need, and with the announcements ofMr. Sofa (phonetic) that they're going to start to
develop what is now a parking lot into residential, it's very clear that there's a strong demand for
parking. There's going to be no residential in this; is that right?
Mr. Mirmelli: No. That was part of the point because it's next to the clubs.
Chairman Teele: No lofts?
Mr. Mirmelli: Keep it strictly office, so there's no noise issue in the future.
Board Member Regalado: Yeah, because then we get the complaints, you know.
Mr. Mirmelli: It's next to the patio at Club Space.
Chairman Teele: Further discussion. All those in -- yes, sir, Mr. Cutler. Your name and
address for the record.
Mr. Cutler: Charles Cutler, 706 Northwest 4th Avenue. I feel that since this is open for
discussion, I think that the CRA should strongly consider the current residents as being -- as
taking some type of partner, some type of stakeholder project with all of this development that is
going on, especially within that disfrict because there's going to be a lot of money made in that
disfrict, and I think that it would -- this would be a good opportunity to set up some type of
program, or some type of project that would be community based; that would be primarily
owned and controlled by some stakeholders within -- that's among the current residents of the
Overtown community, and in terms of actual employment opportunities, I think that we should
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allow the residents to benefit from the jobs that's going to be coming about by this construction.
The CRA is a stakeholder, and a lot of that property, at one point, was considered as the black
community, so to speak. Now, I think that we should start looking at some innovative ways in
terms of inclusion, because the community has basically been left out of the economic
development process, and that's one of the biggest problems that we've had in this community,
and I think that with the multicultural aspect, or the way that we're structured here in Dade
County, that we're really missing out on a tremendous opportunity, because when we look
around Dade County, we see a lot of development going on, but when we look in the inner city,
we see practically, the area's been decimated, and I think that's a slap in the face for not only the
residents that live in those areas, but for government and for the business community also,
because it actually shows that we have some serious problems here.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Cutler: And to -- and what I think that we should consider is developing some type of
coalition between the residents within the Overtown community so that they'll be able to be
stakeholders in some type of business project, and through this project, instead of having
dividends distributed to the individuals, that we set up some type of lottery system, where this
money is set aside for homeownership, and through that lottery system that these homes can be
purchased, and those residents can take part of that over a 5-year, 10 year period, and I think
that we'll be able to put people in homes without a mortgage, and they'll be people that normally
wouldn't even have the opportunity to buy a home. They'll be able to provide -- they'll be able to
have a business opportunity that will be run by them, and by their offsprings; something that can
be passed down, and it'll show that the City and the business within this community have -- are
willing to sincerely consider making them a part of this development.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Cutler: Thank you.
Board Member Regalado: Mr. Cutler, do you know if -- I'm curious -- the County Commission
placed any funding in the GO (General Obligation) bonds to be on the ballot on November 2nd
for the development, infrastructure in Overtown?
Mr. Cutler: I don't think so, but I'll check it out for you, Commissioner.
Board Member Regalado: I don't think so, either.
Mr. Cutler: Yeah, I don't think so.
Chairman Teele: I think there's money for the Lyric Theater. Madam Director.
Board Member Regalado: I think it's about 300, 000 for the Lyric Theater and 35, 000, 000 for
Vizcaya.
Chairman Teele: Ma'am -- Director, are you all in the GO bond issue, and if so, for how much?
Commissioner thinks you have 300, 000.
Minda Logan: The County Commission recommended $10, 000, 000 for us.
Chairman Teele: For the Lyric Theater?
Ms. Logan: Yes, they did.
Board Member Gonzalez: 10, 000, 000?
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Ms. Logan: For the building -- to continue with the building of the theater.
Chairman Teele: All right. Thank you for clearing that up. Yes, sir.
Gil Terem: Hello. My name is Gil Terem, 2301 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida. I own
the building north of the discussed lot ofMr. Greg Mirmelli, the yellow building on the corner (
UNINTELLIGIBLE) Group Investors, and just to continue what the gentleman before me was
referring to, I think that Mr. Mirmelli, with his project, what we're doing in the Omni area and
Park West is basically confributing to what's going on, including the Overtown people. The
project that we're involved in -- and mainly commercial. We're not building the residential
apartments, but basically creating more jobs for the area.
Chairman Teele: He talked about confributing money from a project to buy down housing. Are
you all doing any of that?
Mr. Terem: No. What I'm talking about is what passes the -- we've been developing the area for
the last four years, waiting for projects like this to come up to be benefit to all of us because, so
far, not too much has been done, so I do think that a project like this, or others, will really
contribute to whatever going on in Overtown, Omni, or Park West.
Chairman Teele: All right. We have a motion and a second. I would ask, as a side issue, for the
Executive Director to meet with the Overtown Advisory Board prior to bringing the
recommendation back here. I think, at a minimum, there should be an agreement regarding the
use of labor from within the area. What are we calling that? The -- Chelsa, what's this program
that we ask everybody to sign?
Board MemberRegalado: Section 3?
Chairman Teele: No, it's not Section 3.
Mr. Rollason: First source hiring.
Chairman Teele: It's a first source hiring type of agreement, among other things. I know that
Commissioner Winton's task force has come up with some other innovative things, but I think
before you bring that back to the -- this board, you should bring it by the Omni -- the Overtown
Advisory Board, as well, and let's see how quickly we can move this. We have a motion and a
second. That's not included in the --
Mr. Rollason: I understand.
Chairman Teele: -- motion, but it is a request.
Mr. Rollason: Direction to me, I understand.
Chairman Teele: Yes. All those in favor, say "aye."
The Board Members (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Congratulations, Mr. Mirmelli.
RE.4 04-00826 CRA RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE OMNI
REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO A GRANT
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AGREEMENT, IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO GENERAL COUNSEL, WITH
MIART FOUNDATION, INC. TO UNDERWRITE THE 2004 ART BASEL
EVENT, "IMPACT BASEL" IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $86,350;
FUNDS TO BE ALLOCATED FROM OMNI TAX INCREMENT FUND, "OTHER
GRANTS AND AIDS," ACCOUNT CODE NO. 686001.590320.6.940
Cover Memo- MIART Basel.pdf
Financial Form- MIART Basel.pdf
MIART Basel Letter of Request.pdf
Omni Advisory Board Letter of Support.pdf
Legislation- MIART Basel.pdf
DEFERRED
A motion was made by Board Member Gonzalez, seconded by Board Member Regalado, and was
passed unanimously, with Vice Chairman Winton and Board Member Sanchez absent, to
schedule a Special CRA Board Meeting for July 29, 2004 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss Item RE.4.
Direction to the Clerk of the Board by Chairman Teele to provide a franscript of the last two
persons that spoke on Item RE. 4 (Carol Damien, Chairperson of the Art Department and
Representative of the Arts at FIU [Florida International University]) and Eleanor Klueger, (
Omni Advisory Board Member) and ensure that Board Member Sanchez and Vice Chairman
Winton receive a copy of said transcript before the Special Board Meeting on July 29, 2004. [
Note: The Clerk forwarded requested franscript on 7-28-04.]
Chairman Teele: We have two other items. Number -- what are the other items you have, sir?
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): All right. The next item we have is a
recommendation for a grant for a -- the event to take place during the Art Basel, which will be
coming up at the end of November, beginning of December, out of the Omni CRA.
Chairman Teele: Do we have a letter of support from Commissioner Winton on that?
Mr. Rollason: I do not have a letter of support from Commissioner Winton. I have --
Chairman Teele: Have you met with him?
Mr. Rollason: I have reviewed this with his staff. I have had no --
Chairman Teele: Have you reviewed this with him?
Mr. Rollason: I have not met with him. I have met with his representative that he assigned to me
to meet with to go over this.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Rollason: I have a letter from the Omni --
Chairman Teele: Advisory Board.
Mr. Rollason: -- Advisory Board in support of it. There are a couple of issues that, if we go
forward with this tonight, that we would have to amend to add a couple of things in. If you wish
to go forward, I can add those into the record.
Chairman Teele: I'm not prepared to go forward without Commissioner Winton at least giving
us an e-mail or something to you that -- you know, this is in his district, and I just ask people to
respect my district --
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Mr. Rollason: I understand.
Chairman Teele: -- and I'm not going to disrespect anybody's district.
Board Member Gonzalez: Mr. Chairman, I move to defer this item until --
Mr. Rollason: IfI may --
Board Member Gonzalez: -- Mr. Rollason can meet with --
Mr. Rollason: -- point this out, could we do something contingent upon me getting something
from him --
Chairman Teele: No, sir. No, sir.
Mr. Rollason: -- because of the time factor that I'm facing?
Chairman Teele: No, sir. If we need to bring it up as a special item on Thursday, we can bring
it up as a special item on Thursday, providing you get with Commissioner Winton on Wednesday,
and it'll be quick, but I'm going -- I mean, we've got to respect each other here. All right, and no
motion is necessary. The next item.
Board Member Gonzalez: RE. 5.
Eleanor Klueger: Commissioner, we've brought a lot of people down here in order to talk about
this project, and they cannot come back on Thursday.
Chairman Teele: They don't need to come back. All they need to do is -- Are they all in support
of it?
Ms. Klueger: Yes.
Chairman Teele: OK, then all they need to do is just --
Board Member Gonzalez: Call the Commissioner.
Chairman Teele: -- Commission -- let the Executive Director know, and the real issue is not a
question for us to decide, but we don't want to fund something in a disfrict -- Commissioner's
disfrict without him at least being aware of it and giving us the acknowledgement of it.
Ms. Klueger: We don't have a no. We were not asked to get his permission, at this point. We
were asked to get a letter from the Omni Advisory Board, which we obtained, in other words, to
be ready for this, and it is a matter of dollars being put forth now so that we can continue on, if
all of the Art Basel people --
Chairman Teele: Ms. Klueger, it will not be necessary for anybody to show up on Thursday. We
will schedule this as an item to be taken up on Thursday, at 11 a.m., and all we need is for
Commissioner Winton to at least be aware of what we're doing.
Ms. Klueger: That is so, but we can't state our reasons for having it. In other words, we have a
director from FIU (Florida International University) here. We have --
Chairman Teele: Ms. Klueger --
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Ms. Klueger: -- a lot of important people that have spent a lot of time on this.
Chairman Teele: And we're ready to move forward with it, and acknowledgement that you are
here and, candidly, those people are fine, but I'm going to listen more to you and Mr. Joseph as I
am going to listen more to Mr. McKnight and Mr. Cutler, because we have an advisory board,
and so, those people are welcomed to be here, but we just need to know that you feel sfrongly
about it, and we will let Commissioner Winton know that on Thursday when we take it up.
Ms. Klueger: OK Well, I do feel sfrongly on it, and I am a proponent of it, and it is to be done
this year -- the warehouses are available this year. We don't know about next year, or any other
year, and we do need to advertise the Omni area.
Chairman Teele: Two days is not going to kill this deal or damage this deal.
Ms. Klueger: OK Thank you.
Fred Joseph: Chairman, and we do have an affidavit with the Executive Director.
Chairman Teele: Is there a motion to call a special board meeting at 11 a.m. on Thursday,
during the City Commission meeting, before Commissioner Regalado leaves, for the purpose of
taking up this one item, the Art Basel item?
Board Member Gonzalez: I'll move it.
Board Member Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: Is there objection? All in favor, say "aye."
The Board Members (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed have the same right. And we're -- you know, we're not going to
want a whole long discussion. Do this -- your thing now with Commissioner Winton's office and
I'm sure it's going to be fine.
Chairman Teele: Is there anybody here from the -- on the Art Basel that - is there a professor
here on that? Did he leave? On Art Basel.
Mr. Rollason: She may have just --
Tina Spiro: Dr. Damien just left --
Chairman Teele: OK.
Ms. Spiro: -- because you said you weren't going to --
Chairman Teele: OK, I --
Ms. Spiro: -- hear the presentation.
Chairman Teele: OK. I was going to open it up and just let her say a word.
Ms. Spiro: Well, I could call her and see if she could come back. She's probably in the parking
lot.
Chairman Teele: Well, see if she's --
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Ms. Spiro: All right. Somebody will see if she's still here.
Chairman Teele: OK.
Ms. Spiro: She's the --
Chairman Teele: All right. Ma'am, you're going to have to come to the mike. The Clerk cannot
-- you have to give us your name and address for the record.
Ms. Spiro: Hi. Tina Spiro, 32 Northeast 39th Street.
Chairman Teele: Are you the doctor, ma'am?
Ms. Spiro: No. Somebody's gone to see if she has not left the premises yet, because she heard
that you had deferred this discussion, and she thought her services --
Chairman Teele: All right. Well, we would like to --
Ms. Spiro: -- were no longer needed.
Chairman Teele: -- her record -- her -- anything she's got to say on the record, and we'll just
transmit that over.
Ms. Spiro: I think that would be wise. Yeah, I can call her on the cell phone and --
Chairman Teele: All right.
Ms. Spiro: -- if you'll excuse me for a second.
Chairman Teele: All right. Thanks.
Ms. Spiro: Thank you.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Chairman Teele: Did we find the good doctor? Doctor, welcome. We're going to adjourn as
soon as you give us -- but we did want to keep the record open so that if you're not available that
we can have a transcript made available to Commissioner Winton, andl do apologize for
rushing through the item.
Carol Damien: No, that's OK. Thank you. I'm Carol Damien. I'm the chairperson of the Art
Department, and the representative of the arts at FIU (Florida International University), and
one of the reasons why I'm involved in this project is not only because I understand the
significance of art basel, not just to one particular area, Miami Beach or the Design District, but
that it should be spread around everywhere. It's just too important a project to ignore, and I saw
an opportunity, thanks to some of the wonderful owners of warehouse spaces in the CRA (
Community Redevelopment Agency), who generously have offered to allow us to use these
warehouses for art projects. I felt that it was very important that FIU have a presence downtown
because, as you know, we've got the best school in a huge area, and the Art Department is very
strong, but we do not have a presence downtown, so it looked to me like an opportunity for FIU
to get involved and use art basel as a stepping off point for what hope will be a permanent
location, eventually, for our art students downtown, so what intended to do in my involvement
was to work with the other schools in the area, with the New World School of the Arts, with
DASH (Design & Architectural Senior High School), with the new Miami International
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University downtown, and to help -- to act like a liaison with all of the schools to provide the
educational part of an art basel experience, and we have two warehouses, specifically, that we're
interested in, thanks to Eleanor Klueger and her generosity, that our students would be able to
use the warehouse as one of many projects that we envision for this area ofMiami, and so I think
that to have an educational component to bring students in, to let them be part of it, to let them
be part of art basel, is very exciting for them, so that is my involvement with this project. I feel
like it's unique to have the educational component as part of any art basel project, and I hope
that you will see that this enhances the whole thing; that if we have a special event in downtown
Miami that -- to have students and to have the universities and the schools as part of it, you can't
--I mean, it doesn't it get any better than that; to be able to serve our students. Thankyou.
Chairman Teele: Thank you very much. Was there anyone else who wanted to be on the
record? And we're going to ask the Clerk -- Now, if you come get on the record now, on
Wednesday, you're not going to be recognized. Thankyou, Ms. Klueger.
Ms. Klueger: By then, I hope everything would be taken care of.
Chairman Teele: Thursday.
Ms. Klueger: Thursday, but what I --
Chairman Teele: Thursday.
Ms. Klueger: -- wanted to say is that --
Chairman Teele: Eleanor Klueger.
Ms. Klueger: Eleanor Klueger, 1000 Venetian Way. I have been involved --
Chairman Teele: Were you in support of Parrot Jungle -- I mean, of the Watson Island
development?
Ms. Klueger: IfI answer one way or the other, will that get me art basel?
Chairman Teele: I just want to know. I just want to know.
Ms. Klueger: Yes --
Chairman Teele: You must have been all right because you didn't say anything. If you had --
Ms. Klueger: No. I did speak, and I'm yes and no; yes, I'm in favor of development on Watson
Island. Am I in favor of such a huge project? No, and hopefully, you all will work it out so that
it will be good for everybody.
Chairman Teele: I apologize for putting you on the spot, but I do respect your opinion.
Ms. Klueger: Well -- OK, on that particular project, we didn't know that there wasn't going to be
more access; that the 9/11 had changed a lot of things, and that the -- there may not be enough
parking for everybody, and things like that that came out later.
Chairman Teele: OK. Let's go to art basel.
Ms. Klueger: So we'll talk at some other time, OK. But anyway, I want to see development. I
am in favor of development, and that goes for the Overtown/Park West, and that goes for the
Omni area, and that's what a little bit of this is about. I'm also very much in favor of the arts,
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having been an art instructor in -- I do that in my business. I am the art director, but also, I'm a
businessperson, and I run a fairly large business, and these combination of the two, the arts and
business, make a lot of sense to me. I have been very much involved with all of the art schools in
the neighborhood, and I want to tell you that they are wonderful people; that they have helped
the Omni area. They have helped the downtown. They have come downtown on their own. I
have worked with two classes of architecture people from the FIU; Claudia Busch involved with
having students come down there. There is nothing like that kind of experience of getting your
young generation to come down and see how the City can grow, and what they can do to
contribute to it, and to work with these young students is really a pleasure, and FIU has been
one of the leaders in it. DASH has helped us tremendously; has hosted things for us for free.
The New World has been involved, and the International School. Your mosaic in the park comes
from the International. Those thrones come from the New World. Those were young people
giving of their time and effort, no cost to us, and wanting to make a better Miami, and so I beg
you to do this art basel for us.
Chairman Teele: All right. Thank you very much. Before anyone leaves, Madam Clerk, would
you make a copy of the last two persons speaking, and make sure that Commissioners Sanchez
and Winton have a copy of their -- of the discussion for the special board meeting -- of the CRA
Board meeting at 11 o'clock on Thursday?
RE.5 04-00827 CRA RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE OMNI
REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ("
CRA") RATIFYING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S ACTIONS IN
COMMITTING THE CRA TO CO-SPONSOR, WITH THE DOWNTOWN
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AS LEAD AGENCY, A COMPREHENSIVE
STUDY OF THE PARKING REQUIRED IN THE OMNI REDEVELOPMENT
AREA TO ACCOMMODATE THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER OF
GREATER MIAMI; FURTHER AUTHORIZING THE CONTRIBUTION OF UP
TO $15,000 TOWARD THE COST OF THE STUDY TO BE DISBURSED ON A
REIMBURSEMENT BASIS IN PROPORTION TO THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
THE OTHER COSPONSORS; FUNDS TO BE ALLOCATED FROM OMNI TAX
INCREMENT FUND "PROFESSIONAL SERVICES - OTHER," ACCOUNT
CODE NO. 686001.590320.6.270
Cover Memo- PAC Parking Study.pdf
Financial Form- PAC Parking Study.pdf
PAC Parking Study Backup.pdf
Legislation -PAC Parking Study.pdf
Motion by Board Member Gonzalez, seconded by Board Member Regalado, that this matter
be ADOPTED PASSED by the following vote.
Votes: Ayes: 3 - Board Member Gonzalez, Board Member Regalado and Chairman Teele
Absent: 2 - Vice Chairman Winton and Board Member Sanchez
CRA-R-04-0002
Chairman Teele: Anything else?
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): The last item is a ratification that I am requesting.
This is something that has really been fast tracked, dealing with the parking for the Performing
Arts Center. I've been involved with a -- sort of a sort committee dealing with that, along with
the DDA (Downtown Development Authority), and with Art Noriega, and it became apparent,
after we had the ULI charrette, that we needed to bring somebody on board that could bring this
together as a total package, not to just look at the parking issue, but all of the items dealing with
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having a type of a center that would accommodate the needs of the School Board, and what the
PAC (Performing Arts Center) is looking for, and then what Planning & Zoning is looking for
with the type of a liner building, et cetera, et cetera. It became cumbersome in a committee
format, so the DDA took the lead and has on the street right now an RFP (Request for Proposals
) that is due back on July 30th. They came to me asking for a contribution to participate, and I
authorized that in the amount of $15, 000 from the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) --
from the Omni CRA --
Chairman Teele: You want ratification of that?
Mr. Rollason: -- and I want ratification of that.
Chairman Teele: Is there a motion to approve the Executive Director's action?
Board Member Gonzalez: Move to approve the Executive Director's action.
Board Member Regalado: Second.
Chairman Teele: All in favor, say "aye."
The Board Members (Collectively): Aye.
Chairman Teele: All opposed? Is there anybody --
Board Member Regalado: Is that parking -- excuse me.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
DI.1 04-00828 CRA DISCUSSION
APPRAISALS TO BE PERFORMED ON 3 %2 BLOCKS INVOLVED IN THE
POINCIANA VILLAGE SETTLEMENT LITIGATION, REQUEST BY VICE-
CHAIRMAN J. WINTON
Cover Memo- Discussion Item.pdf
Discussion Item Backup.pdf
Discussion Item Backup2.pdf
NO ACTION TAKEN
REPORTS
RP.1 04-00829 CRA REPORT
SUBMISSION OF PRINTED STATUS REPORT ON PENDING LEGAL
AGREEMENTS (NO BOARD ACTION REQUIRED)
General Counsel Report.pdf
NO ACTION TAKEN
NON -AGENDA ITEMS
NA.1 04-00890 CRA DISCUSSION
Discussion regarding Attorney David Cardwell's Scope of Services.
Direction to the Clerk of the Board by Chairman Teele to provide the Board with
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the full record on Solomon Yuken's committments to the CRA Board. [Note: The
Clerk had already provided a copy of this on 7-21-04 pursuant to a previous
direction.]
Direction to the Executive Director to ensure that the committments made by
David Cardwell be complied with. Said committements are: (1) To review the
CRA's power to buy land and do capital improvements outside of the district for
purposes of removing slum and blight; (2) Review the CRA's eminent domain
powers as it pertains to the present location of Camillus House, including lease-
hold property and adjacent areas that may be necessary pursuant to the CRA's
powers; (3) Review the CRA's overall eminent domain powers as it relates to
the CRA's enabling ordinance; and (4) Review possible conflict of interest
issues relating to Holland & Knight representing outside interests from the CRA.
Direction to the CRA General Counsel by Chairman Teele to draft a resolution
of the Board authorizing the Executive Director to clear the towing bill related to
the Vector Buses.
DISCUSSED
Chairman Teele: Now, my Number 4 says David Cartwell review of CRA (Community
Redevelopment Agency) ordinances and budget process. Where is that?
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): I don't know where you have that from. You have
the CRA agenda --
Chairman Teele: Well, it's from Frank Rollason, Tuesday, July 20th, to Arthur Teele, agenda for
7/21 meeting. This is what I took on my frip.
Mr. Rollason: Right. That was the agenda for you and I to meet.
Chairman Teele: Oh.
Mr. Rollason: That's not the CRA Board agenda.
Chairman Teele: Well, where are we on the David Cartwell issue anyway?
Mr. Rollason: Well, I'll let the attorney answer that. I know that he's been given some direction
in a letter.
Maria J. Chiaro (Interim City Attorney): So far, Mr. Cartwell has been given some direction
based on our previous discussions with him. We're scheduling a time for him to come down. He
will be signing an engagement letter this week.
Chairman Teele: I thought he was already engaged. I thought he was just -- OK, so --
Ms. Chiaro: He is engaged. I mean, but the formalities and the specifics are being set, in terms
of him to come again. He couldn't come at the last meeting, and so we're setting a time.
Chairman Teele: All right. Could you just review for the board what we have requested him to
do, please, Madam Attorney?
James Villacorta (Assistant City Attorney): The CRA -- we've asked him to review the CRA
enabling legislation and the budgeting process at the CRAs.
Chairman Teele: That's not correct. That may be part of it. The essence of what he was
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directed to do was three things: Number one, to look at the CRA's powers and ability to buy
land and to do capital improvements outside of the district, for the purpose of removing slum and
blight. Number two, for him to look at the powers of the CRA regarding eminent domain for the
site where the Camillus House is currently located, and that includes leasehold property, as well
as the adjacent areas that may be necessary, pursuant to our powers, and implicit in that is an
economic study and a -- and the kinds of consultants -- like a Post Buckley or somebody -- to
come in to do the valuation so we know exactly what we're talking about there. The -- and the
third thing that we asked him to do was -- in the context of the CRA's powers, it had something to
do with eminent domain, as it relates to the ordinance that created us, because we're operating
out of sync with our ordinance right now, OK, and we need to look at that in terms of what are
the effects of the ordinance -- the de facto manner in which we're operating, in carrying out
eminent domain powers. In other words, if we start talking about eminent domain, we've got to
have all of the square pegs in the square holes, and all of the round pegs in the round holes, and
all of the triangle pegs in the triangle holes. We cannot issue bonds or take eminent domain
action in the manner that we're operating right now, OK I'm aware of that, so I mean -- but I
want to make sure that that is studied, and it's on the table, OK. Those were the three things that
we specifically asked him to do, and I'm asking now that it be a fourth thing, and that is to look
at the conflicts of interest of Holland & Knight in the manner in which they are operating, as it
relates to the CRA, because when I found out the other day that Holland & Knight is
representing Club Space on this changing of the designation of the street, Space Way, I had
openmouthed astonishment, and I'm particularly concerned about the issue that we had in the
last board meeting where Salomon Yuken's commitments have never been documented and
codified, and now I've learned that Holland & Knight is representing Salomon Yuken, and I need
to make sure that we go through the record on all of those commitments that Salomon Yuken
made, as it related to that computer lab, and the things that he committed, Madam Clerk, on this
issue, where we were loaning money and we -- you know, it went back and forth, but what they
are representing is not what happened, OK That deal -- it didn't matter to Yuken whether we
got the money from Fannie Mae or from Junie Mae, you know. All he had to be worried about
was the money. Now, the counsel said that they didn't go forward with it because we didn't get
the money from Fannie Mae, but that was not a condition from Fannie Mae; that was a
condition from this board.
Mr. Rollason: No. There are conditions that are in the agreement, and those are the items that
we are going back to codify and see what he has agreed.
Chairman Teele: But we need to make sure that the conditions that the board voted on and
directed are in that agreement, because what Salomon Yuken presented here the other day was,
he didn't need to be bothered with this because he wanted us to come up with a whole nother
deal, which is inconsistent with what he had agreed to do, which was to take two units offline of
the housing and turn it into computer laboratories.
Mr. Rollason: Understand.
Chairman Teele: Now we got a request from Miami -Dade Community College to do that, so I'm
very interested in making sure that that is done, Madam Attorney; that somebody do this, and we
need to have -- you know, the Auditor General made these findings, including that I stole a
picture, which I did not steal, so I don't have any real stock in the Auditor General, but he did
make all these findings about the attorney, which has never been dealt with by the outgoing
attorney, and we need to clear those items up, as well. Commissioner Regalado.
Board Member Regalado: So, you mean to tell me that we do not demand compliance on the
standards that we have to comply, as elected officials?
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, I'm not prepared to make any allegations. All I'm saying is, I
want somebody that's outside, that is a CRA lawyer to look at this thing while we're engaging
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them to look at it. I'm not prepared to make any allegations, butl can tell you this: Going back
to the buses, where the bus company was paying us $17, 000 a month -- how much was the bus
company paying us to park those buses? Hilda.
Mr. Rollason: We're talking about lot -- the --
Mr. Villacorta: The lot with the pollution.
Mr. Rollason: -- the lot 60 --
Mr. Villacorta: Yeah.
Mr. Rollason: -- where we had the pollution problem?
Chairman Teele: Where we had the buses. Hilda, when you were the Executive Director, we
had a deal with the buses -- come on up to the mike, ma'am.
Board Member Regalado: I remember that.
Chairman Teele: We had all of those buses parked over there.
Mr. Rollason: That was Vector. Vector --
Chairman Teele: That was Vector.
Mr. Rollason: Yes, sir.
Chairman Teele: All in a sudden one night, Vector relo -- Do you remember the Vector buses?
Hilda Tejera (Special Events Coordinator, CRA): Yes, I remember -- I'm sorry. Hilda Tejera. I
remember the Vector buses, and at the same time, Molina Tower --
Chairman Teele: No, no, hold it. That's another issue.
Ms. Tejera: OK.
Chairman Teele: Vector buses was paying the CRA how much a month to use our parking lot?
Ms. Tejera: I don't recall.
Chairman Teele: But it was substantial. It was more than $5, 000 a month.
Board Member Regalado: I remember. It was a lot of money.
Chairman Teele: It was a lot of money. All in a sudden, those buses left, and they left some
buses there. Those buses went to a lot that were owned by Harrison's -- Mrs. Harrison, the trust
for Mrs. Harrison, mysteriously. Then I found out that Holland & Knight was representing the
Trust, so -- I mean, I've gone along with this thing long enough, but when I found out that they
are representing a current company, like Space, and they have not been representing Space, and
we've got too much going on in here. We need to be very clear as to what we're doing here.
They presented themselves at City Commission meeting this past Thursday -- am I right, Madam
Attorney?
Ms. Chiaro: Yes, that's correct.
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Chairman Teele: And it was the first thing that know, but yet, we're dealing with this stuff so
we need to do that. Now, Madam Director -- and I'll stop -- we owe a tow truck that came and
towed those buses for us that they left, and they have never been paid. They have written letter
after letter to my office. It's less than $5,000, or less than $4,500. I would like to ask for a
resolution of the board authorizing the Executive Director to clear whatever the tow truck bill
that we have for those buses that were towed out.
Mr. Rollason: I mean, if somebody will -- this is the first I've heard of this one -- if somebody
will get me whatever it is, or whoever it is, I'll follow up on them; we'll take care of it.
Chairman Teele: All right. Well, Hilda, can you do that, please?
Ms. Tejera: I would have to call them and find out exactly the amount. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
Chairman Teele: But there's bills in the CRA because they sent them to me, and I told them,
don't sent them to me; send them to the CRA.
Mr. Rollason: I haven't seen one.
Chairman Teele: OK. Well, it just comes up because this whole issue of the buses.
Mr. Rollason: I understand, but if we owe them, we'll certainly get them paid.
Chairman Teele: All right.
Board Member Gonzalez: All right.
NA.2 04-00891 CRA DISCUSSION
Direction to the CRA General Counsel by Chairman Teele that no change in
CRA General Counsel be made until the new City Attorney is appointed by
the City Commission.
DISCUSSED
Chairman Teele: Regarding -- Madam Attorney, regarding the reassignment of the special
counsel. I was advised today that you all are proposing to reassign special counsel.
MariaJ. Chiaro (Interim City Attorney): Yes.
Chairman Teele: I'm going to make a request that you all not make any personnel changes as it
relates to the CRA until the new general counsel has been named. Obviously, we've spent a lot
of money and time with the development of a Chapter 163 program. We finally have a lawyer
that really is knowledgeable about Chapter 163, and I'm going to object strenuously in the
Commission meeting on Thursday to any personnel actions being taken by an interim attorney
during this period of time. I think there is nothing that is going to happen between -- for the next
two or three weeks that is so earthshaking that personnel decisions have to be made,
particularly, this type of personnel action, so that's just my request, take it under advisement, but
I'm shocked to learn that there's any type of personnel actions, particularly, relating to the CRA (
Community Redevelopment Agency), being contemplated, andl would like an explanation as to
what the emergency, or the circumstance that gives rise to the transfer ofMr. Villacorta.
Ms. Chiaro: I'll be happy to discuss it with you.
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): And I want to say on the record that the inertia for
this to get moving came from me, with a meeting with the City Attorney to express my concerns
of the lack of availability of our attorney from time to time because of other assignments that
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were being added, so it began with me approaching to see what could be done. The upshot was
that she felt it was best to make a change in attorneys. I needed some relief (INAUDIBLE) --
Chairman Teele: Are you paying -- is the CRA paying a transfer to the Clerk's office and the
Attorney's office, as a part of our budget? I thought we had directed that.
Mr. Rollason: Yes, we are. Yes, we do.
Chairman Teele: How much are we paying over to the --
Mr. Rollason: We pay the salary of this attorney, and we pay the salary of a --
Chairman Teele: When you say "salary," are you talking about salary and fringe benefits?
Mr. Rollason: I --
Miguel Valentin (Financial Officer, CRA): Social Security.
Mr. Rollason: I think I pay salary and Social Security, do I not? Salary and Social Security --
Chairman Teele: A percentage or 100 percent?
Mr. Rollason: 100 percent.
Chairman Teele: Well, I can tell you right now --
Board Member Regalado: Well, if we pay 100 percent, he has to work for full-time. It's simple.
Chairman Teele: Well, I can tell you this right now -- and they're going to have to transfer
money back to the CRA for the time he hasn't been 100 percent, so I -- that will be my action on
the -- during the budget hearing; is for you all to go back through now and figure out how much
time he has not been here, and that money is going to come back to the CRA, because we're not
gong to pay for something we're not getting, and then have the person, after we invest all this
money -- Didn't you just go off to some new cap -- new market money --
Mr. Villacorta: Yes, to a HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) seminar.
Chairman Teele: How long was that?
Mr. Villacorta: Four days, on tax credits and --
Chairman Teele: I mean, there's nobody in this government that's knowledgeable of tax credits,
the new market stuff. I've been to the seminar twice; I still don't understand it. I'll be honest
with you. It's a treasury deal and it's, supposedly, the latest thing going.
Mr. Villacorta: In fairness to the Law Department, in addition to me, you do get the services of
other attorneys, as needed. I know that the City Attorney has made himself available.
NA.3 04-00892 CRA DISCUSSION
Chairman Teele stated his intent to propose to the City Commission, at its
meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 29, 2004, a City Bond Issue in the
amount of $100,000,000, provided that there are no increases in taxes and that
the dollars that would pay the bond back come from Coconut Grove, to include
$20,000,000 for Camillus House, with Camillus House to revert $12,000,000
back to the City, over time, for quality of life issues in each of the five districts
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plus one citywide ($2,000,000 per District and $2,000,000 City-wide). Chairman
Teele further suggested that the City should enter into an agreement with the
Performing Arts Center to sponsor one of the four venues which would operate
as a City venue but be under the same structure as the Performing Arst Center,
and further, that if this cannot be done through a bond issue, then perhaps it
can be done through the CRA.
DISCUSSED
Chairman Teele: I would like to make two requests and announcements, since the sunshine law
does not allow me to deal with this. On Thursday, it is my intent to call for a City bond issue of
approximately $100, 000, 000, provided there are no increases in taxes, and that the bond -- the
dollars that would pay the bond back must come from the Grove. I'm advised that there's
probably elasticity of approximately $120, 000, 000, and it would be my intent to place an agenda
item before the Commission, and I'm bringing it up here now because the core item that I would
like to deal with are as follows: Number one, the Camillus House. I think we can no longer
continue to put our heads in the sand on the Camillus House. It's my understanding that they
owe -- they need about $20, 000, 000. I am proposing the full $20, 000, 000, but I'm also
proposing that they would covenant back to the City at least $12, 000, 000, to be made available
for Quality of Life projects in each of the five districts, plus one citywide so, in other words, we
would advance them the $20, 000, 000 but, through their fundraising mechanisms and their own
foundation, they would have to covenant to raise at least $12, 000, 000 for the City; that would be
for Quality of Life projects, at least $2,000,000 per district, and $2,000,000 or more citywide. It
may be 15, it may be -- but I think, you know, we need to look past the line between the City and
the Camillus House, and we really need to try to deal with that project, and that's why I want to
make sure that we are looking at the issue that David Cartwell has, and as far as I'm concerned,
we ought to fry to do it where it is now. I am totally willing to support Commissioner Regalado
and anybody else who wants to force it into my disfrict, there in the area that's abutting
Commissioner Gonzalez' disfrict, and I want to say for the record that if the Camillus House
were to be there, it would have more impact on Commissioner Gonzalez' disfrict than my district
because of the barrier of 95. I mean, that's not a cute game, and so it clearly would be in our
disfrict, both geographically; physically in mine, but impact more so in his, but I think we need
to move past this debate. The City ofMiami and the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency)
have dealt with this issue now unsuccessfully for more than 20 years, and I believe that the
removal of the Camillus House, or the impact of the Camillus House, as it currently is situated,
will have more effect on the redevelopment activities of the CRA than any three things we could
do, and I think the Performing Arts Center is a great, great vehicle in impacting positively the
redevelopment. As the numbers that are being shown that we have been collected -- which we
didn't really go over, but that is approximately three times what it was 10 -- eight years ago. We
were collecting what, about $2,000,000? What was the number, Chelsa?
Chelsa Arscott-Douglas (Planning Administrator, CRA): About 2.9 million.
Chairman Teele: We were collecting $2, 900, 000 when we first got into this program in '96, '97,
and now we're collecting $6, 000, 000, and those numbers are just going to go up. This thing's
just going to go up. In that regard, I am also going to be suggesting that the City ofMiami enter
into an agreement with the Performing Arts Center to take down one of the four halls, or one of
the four venues, and make it a City project.
Miguel Valentin (Financial Officer, CRA): Seven.
Chairman Teele: Say again? Seven what?
Mr. Valentin: No, I'm sorry. I --
Frank Rollason (Executive Director, CRA): He was giving information to Chelsa.
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Chairman Teele: Oh. One of the four venues -- and I see Mr. Hardy present, and I would
welcome the opportunity, Mr. Hardy, to meet with you and Frank Rollason, and possibly have a
sunshine law meeting Wednesday with Commissioner Winton on this. I'm not sure if we need to
do this in the bond issue or not, but do recognize that the Performing Arts Center is under
tremendous pressure financially, and that's the polite way to say it. I'm very disappointed that
the County Commission does not appear to be making any steps -- out of a bond issue that
started out at 600, 000, 000; that went to 800, 0000, 000; that went to 1.5; that went to 1.9, and
now it's up to two point --
Board Member Regalado: 750.
Chairman Teele: Is it 2.7?
Board Member Regalado: 750.
Chairman Teele: It's 2.750? That's now up to two -- this thing started out at $500, 000, 000. I
am very disappointed that the Performing Arts Center is not being funded $1 in it, and I realize
that the --
Board Member Regalado: That's a political liability.
Chairman Teele: I realize that, politically, it's a liability, but the fact of the matter is, if it takes
an hour to dig a hole, how long does it take to dig half a hole? And the answer is, obviously, you
can't dig half a hole, and you can't build half of a performing arts center, and the -- this
tremendous engine that is driving the CRA's dollars and all of the talk that we talked about the
Margaret Pace Park, and we can all laugh and joke and talk about oh, more money and more
money. It's really because of the Performing Arts Center. That's the engine that's driving, and
Margaret Pace Park is doing its -- is pulling its load, too, but we are a partner with the
Performing Arts Center, and Eleanor, I know -- I'm speaking for you and the Omni Advisory
Board when they have said, we need to do -- we, the CRA, Omni Board, need to do everything
that we can for the Performing Arts Center, andl would like to move forward on Thursday, if
necessary, to put in the bond issue, or a part of a bond issue, to buy down one of the venues as a
City venue that would be, obviously, operated under the same structure, the Performing Arts
structure, but one of them wouldn't be designated -- one of the things that we did wrong -- and
just so that everybody on this board is aware -- when the County approved this district and when
the County went forward, it required that the first two point -- how much do we give them a
year?
Mr. Rollason: One point --
Chairman Teele: 1.57?
Mr. Rollason: 1,430,000.
Chairman Teele: -- that the first $1,430,000 that we collect from now -- for the next 30 years,
goes to the Performing Arts Center.
Mr. Rollason: To retire construction.
Chairman Teele: To retire construction bonds.
Mr. Rollason: That's correct.
Chairman Teele: We were the first ones in. We were the largest one in, and we're still among
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the largest in --
Mr. Rollason: Yes, we are.
Chairman Teele: -- with the dollars, and yet, when the City negotiated with me, as the County
Commissioner, the City didn't ask for anything, and the City didn't get anything, OK? So we're
just putting up money, and we're getting nothing. What I'm proposing is that we negotiate to
own, or to control, or to name or brand one of the venues, and what are the venues, Michael --
Mr. Hardy?
Michael Hardy: Michael Hardy with the Performing Arts Center. I'm sorry, sir. What's your
question?
Chairman Teele: What are the venues? The symphony hall --
Mr. Hardy: Yeah, the symphony hall, the ballet opera house --
Chairman Teele: How much does that cost about, roughly, roughly? We won't hold you to the
number.
Mr. Hardy: OK, about 200, 000, 000.
Chairman Teele: OK, so we don't want that one. What's the next one?
Board Member Regalado: You got anything cheaper, like $1, 000, 000 or something?
Mr. Hardy: The next one is the ballet opera house.
Chairman Teele: How much is that?
Mr. Hardy: That's about 200, rounding.
Chairman Teele: We don't want that one, either, so what else -- do you have a park or
something, or --
Mr. Hardy: We got a great park.
Board Member Regalado: How much is for the sidewalk?
Chairman Teele: Don't you have a black box theater?
Mr. Hardy: We do. We have a studio theater, and figure 30, 000, 000, 40, 000, 000.
Chairman Teele: 15? Well, I'm going to be basically suggesting that the City should take
responsibility for that; for certain naming rights, for certain operating rights, for certain --
within the context of the structure that's already been set aside, but we've got children, we've got
schools all over this city that could, you know, could benefit from that. We have a couple of
performing arts schools. I guess, that one that's in Coral Gables is -- what's the one on Coral
Way, the high school that's a performing arts school? We have the one in the Grove, butl think
there is enough there that --
Mr. Rollason: Certainly, we have New World, certainly, downtown.
Chairman Teele: New World.
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Mr. Hardy: There's also an education center, the Peacock Education Center that comprises --
Chairman Teele: Peacock?
Mr. Hardy: Yeah, the Peacock Foundation put up the naming rights.
Chairman Teele: Well, see, they've already got the naming rights.
Mr. Hardy: If it's naming rights, yeah, that's already taken. If it's programmatic interest that's
educational, that's another option to talk about.
Chairman Teele: Well, I think you ought to talk to your chairman of the board. There may only
be one Commissioner that feels this way; there may only be two, Commissioner Winton and
myself. I don't even know if he would, butt really think we should be a partner with you, and
this idea of hanging you all out to dry really bothers me.
Mr. Hardy: Thank you, Commissioner. Obviously, it bother us, too. There is another venue that
might be worth thinking about, which is the outdoor plaza, which is going to be a festival space
for the people and for the community, and it's 85,000 square feet, and I think we could --
Chairman Teele: That's right down our alley. We're --
Mr. Hardy: That's a much more --
Chairman Teele: -- a party city.
Mr. Hardy: -- public space for a lot of wonderful programs.
Chairman Teele: How much is that?
Mr. Hardy: Commissioner, it's hard to --
Mr. Rollason: I think it's about 50,000.
Mr. Hardy: 15, maybe.
Chairman Teele: That's more in our budget line. It may be that we could handle that through
the CRA, and not put it in a bond issue because, as Commissioner Regalado suggested, the
Performing Arts Center, at some point, is going to become radioactive, and it could very --
Board Member Regalado: It's already --
Board Member Gonzalez: A lot of people are going to get burned with that Performing Arts.
Mr. Hardy: But a healing kind of radioactivity, we hope.
Mr. Rollason: One of the things we might consider is to do something through the CRA, and
negotiate a trade-off of other funds from the County to help them with the operational side, if we
were to pick up some of the slack on the construction side, which will certainly run a long time to
retire that, and then --
Chairman Teele: Well, I think $15, 000, 000, we could commit -- if the majority of the CRA Board
did it -- on a bonded issue, that's what, about $2, 000, 000.
Mr. Hardy: Commissioner, it could also tie into a matter I came before you earlier on about the
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digital media center --
Chairman Teele: Right.
Mr. Hardy: -- quite a lot of which the manifestation will be visible from and taking place on the
plaza, and I know that you --
Chairman Teele: Yeah, I would like for you to --
Mr. Hardy: -- were interested in a partnership there.
Chairman Teele: -- work with Frank and, obviously, touch base with Commissioner Winton and
Parker Thompson, butt would very much be interested in seeing if the media -- the digital divide
and the media, and the outdoor theater is something that the CRA, on behalf of the City --
Mr. Hardy: Right.
Chairman Teele: The CRA would not go for the naming rights. The naming rights would be
with the City, because everything that we own escheats to --
Mr. Rollason: Right, to the City.
Chairman Teele: -- the City ofMiami. Unfortunately, we had three Mayors that have not
understood that, and seven Managers that never understood it, but anything the CRA builds and
owns will escheat, will be reverted, to the City ofMiami. That's the way our articles of
incorporation, so to speak, or Chapter 163, to be more specific, does it, so if we did the naming
right, we would do that, and then we would, obviously, negotiate for "X" number of venue days a
year that would be, you know, our revenue days, or something like that, and it fits right,
candidly, into what we're doing now with Bayfront Park, and with Bicentennial, and some of the
other venues.
Board Member Regalado: See, but the problem is that, as board members on the CRA, we have
a lot of input in all these issues, and I am very comfortable dealing with issues about the Center,
the Bayfront, the Omni area, because here we get information. We are able to announce plans
and exchange ideas. However, as a City Commissioner, I am very uncomfortable in dealing with
the Performing Arts Center, Bayfront Park, Marine Stadium; anything that is not in our disfrict.
I have been told to the media, by the City Manager, that it's not my business to talk about the
convention center, the Coconut Grove Convention Center, because it's in Commissioner Winton's
disfrict and, by the way, on the Camillus House, I was the third vote to defeat the transfer of
Camillus House, and I will, as a City Commissioner, will not vote different than the two
Commission members that are being impacted directly by Camillus House, and that's -- I said
that, so what I'm saying, Mr. Chairman, is that I am very uncomfortable, so you know, and this is
not personal. Anything that will come before the City Commission regarding the Performing
Arts, in the City Commission, I will vote no. However, in the CRA, that's different. Anything --
any plans. Anything that we're not given the possibility of having input within downtown and -- I
would oppose it, and this is so you understand my position. Probably you will get a yes vote
here, and a no vote there, and for you, Mr. Chairman, your idea is, as always, brilliant.
However, because of the lack of information and the lack of input, I will not be supporting the
bond issue in the City Commission. I will be supporting the bond issue in the CRA.
Chairman Teele: Well, if -- I'm not sure how to figure out how to make that work, but if the bond
issue were for $12, 000, 000 for the CRA, for the purpose of buying -- or providing for capital
cost of the Camillus House -- or $20, 000, 000, would you support that?
Board Member Regalado: Yes, for the CRA.
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Chairman Teele: OK, I hear you. If it were -- and that makes sense, actually. That's why
Cartwell needs to be here because the City is not going to understand the powers of the CRA
versus the powers of the City, because the City cannot go in there and eminent domain the land
for a private purpose; is that right, Madam Attorney, for the Camillus House?
Maria J. Chiaro (Interim City Attorney): That's correct.
Chairman Teele: So the only way it can be done is the money has to come to the CRA for the
purpose of eminent domain. Now, I hope -- Stephanie, you're charged with explaining this to the
Manager, because he's going to see this as a power grab, but he's got to understand that the City
does not have the power to take someone's land for a private purpose, and the Camillus House,
being a nongovernmental body, constitutes a private purpose, OK? So the only way we can do
this is the money has to go as a bond issue for the Redevelopment Authority for the purpose of
the Camillus House. Now, if you -- you could do this money directly to the Camillus House if
for example, you're going to put it in the area that is abutting Commissioner Gonzalez' and my
district, because then it's just a capital project, but if you've got to develop it, that is, by taking
the land, and they already got some long-term leases and all of this, and all of that, then, you
know, we're there. Now, that would be over there with the Southeast Overtown/Park West
Disfrict. On the Omni Disfrict, if we were to put in, let's say, $8, 000, 000 -- what did you say the
amphitheater was?
Board Member Regalado: 15.
Chairman Teele: 15?
Mr. Hardy: I said 15, but, obviously, I have to go back to the calculator.
Chairman Teele: OK. If we were to do the $15, 000, 000 there, and maybe negotiate that you all
would pay us back when you get the money back --
Board Member Gonzalez: Sure.
Chairman Teele: Rip Van Winkle will be --
Mr. Hardy: Sounds like a deal, Commissioner.
Chairman Teele: -- the only one around when we get that one -- and then if there were money
for --
Commissioner Regalado: Here is their fairy godmother there.
Chairman Teele: -- if there were Quality of Life projects in each of the five districts for the
balance, including roads and infrastructure, you know, just 5,000,000 -- or 7,000,000 times five
is what, 35,000,000?
Board Member Regalado: 35, 000, 000.
Mr. Rollason: 35.
Chairman Teele: Or 10, 000, 000 -- 10, 000, 000 times five is $50, 000, 000, so that would be the
package. You follow what I'm saying, Angel? So $10, 000, 000 for each of the five districts for
Quality of Life and infrastructure; that's roads and all of that, because that's where my problem
is, and --
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Board Member Gonzalez: Mine, too.
Chairman Teele: -- you know, Johnny and some of these others have a different thing, so that
would be 10, plus the 20 -- I mean, 50 plus 20 is 70, plus, you know, 15 is 85, and then $15, 000,
000 for parks, or some generic issue. Could you support that, Commissioner?
Board Member Regalado: I don't know.
Chairman Teele: You don't trust your own disfrict?
Board Member Regalado: Huh?
Chairman Teele: The majority of the money would be $10, 000, 000 for each of the five districts -
Board Member Regalado: Oh, I know. The idea is great --
Chairman Teele: Does that give you a problem?
Board Member Regalado: No, it doesn't give me a problem.
Chairman Teele: As long as it's earmarked for the district.
Board Member Gonzalez: The idea is great, but the only problem is that in order to approve a
new homeless shelter, according to a resolution that was passed by the City Commission, you
need four votes, and I don't know if there will be the votes to transfer Camillus House to
Allapattah. I can tell you, my position is -- or to your disfrict, which is abutting to my disfrict,
and as you said, the --
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, I will not vote --
Board Member Gonzalez: -- district that is going to get more impacted by this organization is
going to be Allapattah, so, you know --
Chairman Teele: The Commission --
Board Member Gonzalez: -- I'm going to maintain my position. I'm going to vote no, no, and
no, and no. You know, no more homeless in Allapattah.
Chairman Teele: But, Commissioner --
Board Member Gonzalez: It's that simple.
Chairman Teele: Commissioner, it's like this --
Board Member Gonzalez: That's going to be my vote. That is my vote, and that is going to be
my vote.
Chairman Teele: But, Commissioner -- and I respect that -- but if it's $20, 000, 000 in the bond
issue for the Camillus House, and let's say the bond issue is $100, 000, 000 and it passes, and we
can't figure out where we put it, the money just stays there. It's just like the money right now for
the CRA office building. This bond issue passed in '94. That money can't go any -- it's been
there. It's drawing interest. It can't go anywhere unless and until -- and the worse thing could
happen is you just never use it.
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Board Member Regalado: Mr. Chairman, my concern is not the way that you have figured out
the bond issue. I think it's the most fair way to do that. I think that interest --
Chairman Teele: If the County would put the money in, the 20, 000, 000 in for the Camillus
House for the CRA, I wouldn't put -- I wouldn't move any of the money.
Board Member Regalado: I understand that. My only concern is that this bond issue, especially
if, tomorrow, the County Commission decides to do what Mayor Penalas has asked --
Chairman Teele: Just to pare it down.
Board Member Regalado: -- and separate -- no, separate the museums from the libraries --
Mr. Rollason: The parks, right.
Board Member Regalado: -- and the parks, and all that. My concern is that this great idea,
which is great, because if we can offer to the people a bond issue that would not raise taxes, and
would fix streets, people would go for it. My concern is that the timing on November the 2nd,
these bonds will go down as --
Board Member Gonzalez: As the County bonds probably will go down.
Board Member Regalado: -- because the County bond -- most of the County bonds -- mind you,
don't believe what Professor Moreno says that --
Board Member Gonzalez: Yeah.
Board Member Regalado: -- 65 percent of the people are happy with the County. That's not
right.
Chairman Teele: That's not right.
Board Member Regalado: That's not right.
Chairman Teele: Because of the People's Transportation thing. People are --
Board Member Regalado: Because of the Performing Arts --
Mr. Rollason: Performing Arts Center.
Board Member Gonzalez: Yeah.
Board Member Regalado: -- because of the Children's Trust, because of the People's
Transportation money.
Chairman Teele: American Airlines.
Board Member Regalado: I will tell you, Mr. Chairman --
Chairman Teele: American Airlines.
Board Member Regalado: And everything. I mean, you know -- but mostly, you know, what
really gets people moving is the Children's Trust. People voted, you know, with a heart for --
Board Member Gonzalez: Every time --
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Board Member Regalado: -- insurance for the children. As of today, there's no insurance, and
the only thing is that they're buying radio programs with our money to tell the mother how to,
you know, give milk to babies and all that, which is fine and dandy, but we're paying a lot of
money, so my concern is not the way that you have figured out the bond; it's the timing. You
know, I would go out and, you know, knock on doors for this kind of bond money because it's
precisely what the City needs now, but it would be an uphill battle to approve those bonds,
because environment is so rare now with this situation that it would be very difficult, so, you
know --
Chairman Teele: Let's keep an open mind. I'm committed -- I'm just committed to trying to solve
the Camillus House problem.
Board Member Gonzalez: If you allow me? You know, my problem with Camillus House --
you're familiar because I've been talking about this for three years. I've been fighting the
homeless problem since 1990, when I came to Allapattah to work in Allapattah, and that has
been a constant fight of that community and, you know, what is sad is that when you see me
fighting to bring development, new development into Allapattah to improve the neighborhood, to
bring new jobs, to bring new housing, to bring prosperity to Allapattah, people from other
neighborhoods criticize me through e-mail, through phone calls, through messages in my
recording machines, through signs in my car and, you know, and why is that? Why do other
people have the right to have prosperity and new buildings, and new businesses, and in different
type of life, and they believe that my people in my community have to live the same way that they
have lived for the last 30 or 40 years? Well, you know, it's over. I'm sorry to say that you have a
new Commissioner in District 1, and this Commissioner got elected because this Commissioner
had the vision of improving and changing those neighborhoods, and making sure that we will
bring equality on treatment to people that have been neglected and abandoned for I don't know
how many years, and that's why I got elected, and Commissioner Regalado was very familiar
with my campaign, and he was a very strong supporter, him and his wife, of my campaign, and
they know the battles that had to fight to get elected, but you know why I got elected? Because
the people believed in me. They saw my work throughout the years in that community and they
believed in me, and they voted for me, and I'm not going to defraud them. I'm going to maintain
my position. I'm going to fight as much as I can fight to prevent it. You know, if the City of
Miami gets the four votes that they need to put it in Allapattah, hey, listen, you know, what can I
do? But I'm --
Board Member Regalado: How are they going to do that?
Board Member Gonzalez: I'm -- huh?
Board Member Regalado: How are they going to do that? Because I'm -- I just said, I will not
voting -- different than the area Commissioners.
Board Member Gonzalez: Right, so then they don't have the votes. You know, and another
thing, if it is good to be in your district, why isn't good to be here, where it is now? Just build
them a new building. Just, you know, buy more land. Just do whatever you have to do, but keep
them where they are. Well, it's not good for them to be here where they are now, but it's good to
put them in your district and my district? No, sir.
Chairman Teele: Well, I --
Board Member Gonzalez: With all due respect to who -- you know --
Chairman Teele: I think Commissioner --
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Board Member Gonzalez: No way.
Chairman Teele: -- Winton has been extremely forthcoming, and Commissioner Winton, who
has said repeatedly, I have no objections to us redeveloping in the current location, and that is
as courageous a position as anybody I've ever served with has taken.
Board Member Gonzalez: And let me tell you. If it would have been in my district from the
beginning, that would have been my position. It's here. We have to live with it, and we have to
accommodate it, you know. I wouldn't pretend to put it in somebody else's district. I would
never do that.
Chairman Teele: Well, the wisdom of Commissioner Regalado probably is going to prevail,
because if he had voted the way he should have voted, this whole issue would be behind us, but
he didn't and we're here, andl owe you a debt of gratitude. This meeting stands adjourned. I
am not going to get into a debate about "don't put it near my house."
Rene Walker: All right, but -- and not only in my house --
Chairman Teele: Your name, your name.
Mr. Walker: Not only -- Rene Walker -- not only in my house. There are four schools around --
right around that site; two of them are elementary --
Chairman Teele: Have you ever heard the saying, like an old penny?
Mr. Walker: Like a what?
Chairman Teele: An old penny; you just keep showing up.
Mr. Walker: Yes, I will, and I will, and I will --
Chairman Teele: Thank you for --
Mr. Walker: -- and I will because --
Chairman Teele: Thank you for continuing.
Mr. Walker: -- I know that you wouldn't like it right next to your -- on your doorstep --
Chairman Teele: You're right.
Mr. Walker: -- and you're putting it right in my doorstep --
Chairman Teele: All right.
Mr. Walker: -- so I will show up as soon as --
Chairman Teele: And you're welcome --
Mr. Walker: -- as many times as I have to.
Chairman Teele: -- and we'd like to hear from you. Thank you.
Mr. Walker: Thank you very much.
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