Sarnoff wins -- voters want a change
Well, Marc Sarnoff is now a new City Commissioner and Linda Haskins is out. The voters have spoken loud and clear. Herald details here.
posted by Tom Falco at 12:35 AM
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45 Comments:
Congratulations to Marc. Now he will jump right into life as a Commissioner. Expect Marc to have many public and open discussions with Dist 2 residents and stakeholders.
Another good reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving. The people got out there and voted and should be proud that they now have a voice at City Hall.
And Adolph Hitler was freely elected by "the people" of Germany to be their voice.....
It's neat to see a grassroots campaign such as his be successful. Driving through the Grove each day, it seems as though the Grove wants Sarnoff. Let's just hope Sarnoff is really what the Grove wants. :-)
Marc Sarnoff won handily in almost every neighborhood in Dist 2. Marc won the Upper East Side 2 to 1. Marc won Brickell 56% to 44%. Marc won Little Haiti/Lemon City 60% to 40%.
Now Marc has the great opportunity to be the Commissioner. Let us all give him our support.
ah political insurgency... if only it would spread to the county.
Let's hope this doesn't mean the end of public transportation. The one issue that haskins had going for her was the streetcar.
Are you serious? That streetcar was the biggest waste of time and money Ive ever heard of... Sure, Miami sucks for public transportation, but $200 Million for a traincar that will operate in a rather tiny area? Thats absurd. Plus, Sarnoff had a good point. What happens when we get hit by a hurricane? Those lines could become dangerous. We also have those trains up in Boston and while they are very useful, they do tend to have issues that cause shutdowns. The grid in Boston is much larger though and there are multiple trains connected to the system. One train in a limited area isnt going to solve transportation problems. Not to mention the fact that the plan that is being assembled for this thing has "never been done before". In another city, I wouldnt have a problem being a pioneer for something new, but with the lack of competence in this city, its sure to be a total train wreck (pun definitely intended).
There are many problems with the proposed $200 Mil streetcar scheme:
1. It was proposed by Manny Diaz
2. Contracts in Miami and Miami-Dade County go overbudget and overtime.
3. $200 Mil on paper turns into $350 Mil if it ever gets completed.
4. The route is inflexible.
5. Miami is broke. Manny Diaz just submitted and the commissioners just approved another budget showing a deficit.
6. We don't have $200 Mil much less the eventual cost of $350 Mil
7. Many neighborhood activists are opposed.
8. etc
well maybe the street car cost a lot but I think we do need to spend a lot on infrastructure to get this city off of the car stranglehold that we have now. I voted for Sarnoff not because he was against the streetcar but because of Home Despot. I hope he can help make Miami's growth a Smarter growth. And I hope some soret of train transit gets built. maybe street cars would be good but without the over headlines? and how can we object to over-headlines in streetcar when we already have tons of electric lines overhead already. FPL bury those lines!
Buses are getting better and better. The Gables seems to having success with its trolley system.
If people's needs change you can easily adjust bus routes.
Read Miami Today dated Nov 16th. Great column on streetcars by Dick Goodman. Lots of great info.
Wow great arguments: "One train in a limited area isn't going to solve traffic problems". So if you don't allow the first train to be built, how is the grid ever supposed to become "much larger like Boston's"? Do you think all the trains in Boston or any other city were built and functional at the same time?
Buses are getting better and better? Based on what evidence?
Overhead lines dangerous in hurricanes? That's a scapegoat anti-transit/anti-urban growth activists use to justify their autocentric lifestyles/urban fear/xenophobia, or whatever other private regarding ethos. I'm sure San Francisco must have thought, "Well we better not build mass transit systems like trolleys and streetcars because earthquakes could make the infrastructure dangerous". I'm sure Boston and Toronto figured Nor'easters or blizzards would make their streetcar infrastructure "dangerous".
The Miami streetcar is a problem because "Manny Diaz proposed it" - yeah, I might have used that type of argument in second grade.
OK Sarnoff doesn't get it - he (like many posters on this site from the Grove) live in a dreamy world of quaint, single family homes in a secluded tropical "village". Whether he realizes it or not, Sarnoff is on a campaign to marginalize Miami's efforts to imporve its standing as a national and global city. Being an anti-urban growth zealot does no good in a major city that is growing at signifcant rates. He's anti Miami 21 as well. So, considering significant population growth is expected to continue for a long time, my question for Sarnoff is "how do you plan on structurally accounting for all the new growth - where do you think they are all going to live"?
I know people reading this have been thinking, "this jerk is on Haskins' team" - I am not. She doesn't get it either. On the DeFede radio debate she stated "density belongs in downtown and that's where it should stay". Wow...this is a woman supporting the streetcar and Miami 21, but thinks density is only for downtown? Sounds like she has no idea that density and the streetcar and Miami 21 go hand in hand and ultimately supplement each other - making Miami a more livable, sustainable, and pedestrian friendly city. (Note: density does not necessarily mean high rises - in fact, much more often than not it does NOT mean high rises). On the flipside, she may just be pandering to the density haters and urban phobia crowd for some extra votes.
Either way, Miami loses as a result of this election.
Conclusion: Neither candidate has a comprehensive grasp on Miami's urban growth issues.
Im the one who made the comment about Boston's train rail system. I dont agree with your statement that it started with 1 rail because it didnt. Plus, the rail in Boston was built far before it was ever absolutely critical for the growth of the city. This is something called "Urban Planning" which government officials in Miami are too moronic to even begin to understand. Think about it, what does this city need more - a better public transit system or a new performing arts center?
I will agree with you, however, that neither candidate has a great grasp on the steps that are needed to assist with the growth of this city. I voted for Sarnoff because I feel that far too many people in city government are focusing on expansion and none are focusing on those of us in the smaller, quiet communities that are being adversly effected by what I call "inconsiderate expansion". Sure, this city needs to grow, but you cant crap on the people who live here in order to make room for new residents. I guess in a sense I agree with Haskins statement that urban growth belongs in urban areas like downtown.
And as for the "where will they live" comment, how about we crack down on illegal immigration and then see how much of a population problem we really have...
Cracking down on illegal immigration would cause the Brickell and South Beach condo markets to collapse. No Central American labor to build them, and no rich South Americans to buy them.
I have heard Marc Sarnoff speak many times. In addition, Marc has answered many questions in writing. They are on his website. www.marcsarnoff.com. Marc's opinions have changed slightly over the past three months as he walked Dist 2 knocking on 9,000 doors. Marc advocates for height and density downtown, where we have infrastructure, and along select transit corridors. Marc would oppose a high rise proposed to be built within, or on top of, a single family neigborhood. It is time someone stood up for our long time residents.
It is true Miami was not planned properly. Roads, avenues and mass transit should have been considered decades ago. And to the poster above; quite right. Why did the County spend $450 Mil on a PAC Center when we had such bad mass transit? Or why spend $450 Mil on a PAC Center when we have such a problem creating affordable housing? And how did the PAC Center get approved without parking on-site or close by? That might be another $200 Mil fiasco.
So, the dissenters are quite correct in questioning the wisdom of the proposed $200 Mil streetcar boondoogle. After all, this is Miami.
I'm just glad that we've elected a 'personal injury' attorney (albeit for boat, plane & train wrecks) to add to the Miami governance.
Marcelo (ABOVE):
Slow down Big Boy. Take a breath! While Sarnoff is, to me, a very silly man, he is, of course, NOT the Reich’s Fuhrer. My point was merely to tweak the poster above me who seemed all bedazzled by the fact that “the people” picked him. “The people” (meaning all of US) are capable of making both brilliant and despicable choices and we shouldn’t romanticize either. On one day in time, a random assortment of people agreed on one thing. But that unity of thought could unravel before sundown and Mr. Sarnoff and his merry band should not get all caught up in their "mandate."
Even though Marc Sarnoff won 65% to 35% District wide on Nov 21st, I believe he realizes that he will be judged by every decision and by every comment he makes. Marc did win on Nov 7th, and again on Nov 21st, but Dist 2 consists of a great many educated intelligent residents. Many have very strong opinions. Marc will be forced to make tough decisons soon. Some of his decisons will please some and anger others. Marc understands that.
It is interesting to note that Marc won the Upper East Side and Marc won the Brickell prrecincts and he won every major precinct in the District. With the plethora of concerns from West Grove north to Shorecrest Marc has quite a task ahead. He will only be able to make great decisons if he receives great information. As you have concerns keep Marc informed. Send him details of all the community meetings. We can help him.
At least we just had two elections. (Both won by Marc Sarnoff). The only person who "picked" Linda Haskins was Manny Diaz.
If Manny Diaz really knew Dist 2 he would have "picked" Sarnoff to replace Winton. That would have saved Haskins much embarrassment and her contributors over $700,000.
And it would have shown Diaz was well informed.
Was Sarnoff our ONLY choice? Certainly he was more appealing than Haskins. But she was so inept as a candidate I suspect a potted plant could have defeated her. I know Marc has his hard core supporters but to a great many people - including many who voted for him out of despair as Haskin's ineptitude - he is viewed as seriously flawed and destined to be a "one-year wonder" on the Commission. Or maybe even "one month wonder" if Winton is exonerated or in any way escapes a felony conviction. And somehow I doubt that a well-known professional person with no criminal record will be convicted of a felony resulting from a spontaneous drunken spat with no witnesses other than the complaining officers.
I count myself among the "agressively ambivalent" persons who voted for Marc because it's probably better to have someone on the commission who is sensitive to the Grove's interests than not, but I have serious reservations about his intentions and his ability to fulfill his campaign promises. I think that the Home Depot situation pans out will tell us whether he hasn't led the Grove over a cliff.
I don't see what the problem is with rich South Americans buying condos SWLIP - with an investment of 100k they can get a visa. In any case, illegal immigrants are NOT the problem in Miami: the more liberal estimates cap them at only 750,000 in the whole state and 120,000 in Miami Dade - that's 5% of the county's population. The money that would have to be spent in identifying, rounding up and expelling all those people would pay for a big improvement of mass transit.
As far as Sarnoff: he knows, but I don't think his voters know yet, that he can't be effective from an permanent adversarial position. Even if he does, he can't win every battle. His agenda has been reactive so far, let's see how he does tackling the problems. History shows that adversarial candidates don't become conciliatory all of a sudden.
Marc's problem is that he ran as an absolutist and has little maneuvering room with his core supporters.
The tight-knit core group that surrounds him is composed of cult-like true believers and would follow him to the ends of the earth. He could suddenly become Johnny Winton reincarnate and they’d be cool with that because they worship Marc as the messiah and would never question him.
But the next level of supporters – the much larger issue-oriented group that opposes pretty much everything associated with city life and would actually be much happier living in a bucolic hamlet in Vermont if it weren’t for the bad weather - wouldn’t give him they kind of leeway. They are not so interested in Marc personally as they are in the concept of “no growth, no taxes, no spending, don’t bother me, everything fails so don’t try anything, we are all doomed” approach to life.
These folks, who make up the leadership of the homeowner associations around the city, will not tolerate any deviation for the absolutist, stop-everything point of view.
Unfortunately for Marc, as one of five votes on the Commission, he could easily be made totally irrelevant if he doesn’t loosen up and cooperate with the other four, all of whom opposed his election. He could sit there all year making motions for this or that but can’t DO anything unless he gets two more votes.
This will be interesting to watch as Joe Arriola coaches Marc and wheels and dealers on his behalf from the side-lines hoping that his arch-enemy Commissioner Tomas Regalado – Marc’s only potential ally - doesn’t notice.
Interesting observation. Could the prospect of collaborating with the vile atrocity known as Arriola (now serving as chief advisor to Sarnoff) be so repugnant to Regalado that he is driven back into the arms of his one-time ally Mayor Diaz?
It is true Marc Sarnoff will need at least two other votes to get his iniatitives passed. We all understand that. If Marc brings a motion that benefits not only Dist 2 but all of Miami and three commissioners vote against it how would they look?
There are some very important issues to be debated and voted on at the next few Commission meetings. Most involve Dist 2 issues. Since Sarnoff just won two (2) elections receiving more votes than any prior Dist 2 candidate we would be surprised if the other commissioners did not take notice. (Several will be up for election soon.)
All true. This could be the beginning of a more open process filled with positive debate and discussion among Commissioners with different priorities and values. It's been pretty stale for a while.
Or it could be a complete stalemate. And the reason we have districts is to accommodate the different priorities of the various parts of the City. Don't be surprised if the voters of Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5 have sharply different problems and priorities to address and little patience with the upper-middle class tribulations of Coconut Grove, Brickell and the Upper East Side.
Marc Sarnoff will not be surprised Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5 have different problems. He is planning on it.
Solutions have to benefit the City as a whole not just each particular Commissioner.
We look forward to seeing several interesting mixed income mixed use projects start up now that there is a new Commissioner.
la raza:
Frankly, your moniker automatically renders anything you post on illegal immigration suspect. You should be aware that some of us dumb gringos actually know what "la raza" means. How's La Reconquista coming along, anyway?
In any event, my comment on the condo market was meant humorously. Sorry if you didn't get it.
la raza:
I should have added that the "100k" investment threshold applies to business investment, not purchasing a condo on Brickell. So your argument is based on a flawed assumption.
I, like swlip, am a Gringo who knows a smattering of Spanish, so I know that “la raza,” in a purely literal sense, translates into “the race” and is hence objectionable in North American culture where we are not supposed to make claims of racial superiority or primacy.
But as is so often the case when you toggle between languages, I fear he’s confusing the “definition” (a technical issue) with the “meaning” (an emotional, cultural and historical matter).
In the Hispanic world of the Americas, the term is widely used as a synonym of "el pueblo" or "la gente", both of which mean "the people". It is used to denote all the people of Latin America who share the cultural and political legacies of Spanish colonialism, including the Spanish language and culture.
It is a term of ethnic, cultural, racial, historical and national inclusion.
So stand down and relax.
No one is claiming ethnic supremacy.
Except perhaps some of my over-excited fellow Gringos.
anonymous:
With all due respect, you are whistling in the dark.
Give Sarnoff a chance. Keep him informed and see what happens.
This is the first step towards stopping the headlong flight of insanity that Diaz has been pushing.
Look what Haskins did with the upzoning of the Herald property on Nov 9. We don't need that blatant disregard for the well being of the people who live and work downtown on the commission.
Sarnoff is a breath of fresh air.
swlip....
Citing that garbage is like referring to the rantings of the Black Panthers or the Klan to get insights into the ambitions of Black and White Americas.
I think many of these comments come from someone who lives in an ivory tower that he doesn't even own but rents from a client. We as property owners and taxpayers should have input over someone who who doesn't even own property. He only wishes he had the respect that Marc Sarnoff has instead of the questionable tactics he resorted to and inflicted upon Linda Haskins during her campaign.
Let us all help Marc Sarnoff. If anyone knows of a community meeting or of any public hearings that you think Marc should attend please let him know. The more information he gets the better decisions he will make.
Marc has two community meetings on Monday night and the public Miami 21 presentation at the Planning Advisory Board on Nov 30th. We hope they allow the public to ask questions.
anonymous:
I guess it's a convenient straw man to suggest that I am ascribing the goals of "la raza", "Aztlan", and the "Reconquista" movement to all Hispanics, but that's not what I wrote.
I can only conclude that you are being willfully blind about this. The term, "la raza", originated with the "Aztlan" movement, the goals of which are clearly stated in the site that I linked. The term does not refer to all Hispanics, but only to members of the Chicano race; indeed, Hispanics of European and African descent are excluded from the definition. So, to suggest that the term is "pan-Hispanic" is kind of silly, and requires a studied ignorance of the facts.
So, you can call it "garbage" if you want, but that is what the adherents of "la raza" believe. And the commenter who posted as "la raza" did so to specifically tell us something about himself or herself.
I wonder what "strange women lying in ponds" mean? Are you a serial killer or something?
Chill out, informed gringo. "La raza" is a colloquial term most Latinos use. I know Cubans don't, but then again, they don't consider themselves Latino. The term has been coopted by militant groups but it's not exclusive, anymore than "minutemen" can only be used by rednecks with sun-induced paranoias.
Why don't you address the estimates of illegal inmigrants in Dade instead of attacking my moniker? I suspect it is because your argument doesn't have a leg to stand on? Check also on the 100k investment, real estate investments qualify, so as long as they don't make it their primary residence it will get them the visa. Again, what is your problem with that? Would you rather see the buildings empty?
la raza:
You may others for fools, but please don't mistake me for one. I have been following MEChA and the "Aztlan" movement for quite some time. "La raza" refers to an absolutist, racial identity movement, and no amount of whistling past the graveyard will change that.
Why else do I have reason to believe that your use of the moniker, "la raza", is meant to express sympathy for the Aztlan movement? Well, why else would you use that handle when posting on immigration issues, unless your views were sympathetic to MEChA'spro-illegal immigrant propaganda?
As to your argument about numbers of illegal immigrants, my position is that arguing about numbers largely misses the point, which is whether we are going to enforce our laws or not. Our civic fabric is based on respect for the law, and when someone enters the country illegally he or she is, by his or her first act in the country, demonstrating contempt for the law.
The numbers are difficult to know, because illegal immigrants hardly ever stand up and ask to be counted. But if you're interested in statistics, let's talk about the cost of illegal immigration to Florida's taxpayers. This is besides the cost in lives, property, and domestic tranquility that results from illegal immigrant gangs and crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
It is also highly unfair that illegal immigrants are being rewarded while people who enter this country legally are penalized. My wife immigrated here legally, and she and others like her -- those who played by the rules -- are pretty bitter about those who don't.
In any of those numerous years you've spent following Aztlan and Mecha, have you been to L.A? Because you'll hear "la raza" quite often, by people not affiliated with any of those movements.
But OK, you don't want to argue about numbers. Of course, without numbers you have no idea of the real impact illegal immigration has on the state or the county, so you'll be speculating. Speculating based on your bias, which is another way of saying talking out of your...
But wait, you do believe in mumbers! Because surely you have some kind of number associated to that "cost in lives, property, and domestic tranquility"? Right? Or how many gang members exactly are illegal immigrants?
So yes, let's talk about enforcement. How exactly do you propose all those menacing illegal immigrants will be rounded up and deported? Who's funding that? Not by raising your taxes, you are a Republican after all. Not by using funds otherwise wasted in Iraq, you are a war supporter as well. So how?
Think.
There a number of types of posts that I do not respond to. Among them are those that raise straw men, those that read like non-sequiturs, and those that are condescending or in which the writer engages in the ad hominem. Congratulations, you scored a hat trick.
I also don't wish to continue hijacking Grapevine's comments thread with this discussion. You're welcome to post comments on my blog in response to any post that you feel needs a response.
Let's see: you said I was disqualified by my nickname alone (non sequitur), you went off the Aztlan/Mecha tangent (straw man) and you sarcastically deplored my "not getting it" (ad hominen). And that was the first two comments alone. Nice.
Going on your blog? LOL, you wish.
Boy, that really escalated quickly...
It did escalate quickly and to think it could all have been avoided if people could respect moving to and living in our country.
Right, if you mean "respect the rules"...
Marc Sarnoff. We wish Marc good luck. We can help Marc by inviting him to events and providing him with information. The more information he has the better decisions he can make.
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