No vote yet on Mercy land scam
The City Commission postponed the Mercy Hospital rezoning vote until next month.
Comm. Joe Sanchez suggested postponing the issue saying he needed more time before voting. I don't know if this is good or bad, but at least he didn't rush to a decision.
Comm. Marc Sarnoff tried to get them to vote against the project, asking the other commissioners to side with him, the district Commissioner, but apparently three on the board have no respect for Marc and his knowledge of the area.
The Related Group has no respect for Vizcaya or the neighborhood and as usual is out for the almighty dollar. Mercy Hospital is a shameless whore. The developers lowered the height to 318 feet from 410 but this is bullshit.
So now it is back to the circus on April 26, 2007. It is a shame that this nonsense has to go on and on when respectable people like Arva Moore Parks speak against the project, but are totally ignored. It's all about the money -- lining people's pockets. It really is sad.
Comm. Joe Sanchez suggested postponing the issue saying he needed more time before voting. I don't know if this is good or bad, but at least he didn't rush to a decision.
Comm. Marc Sarnoff tried to get them to vote against the project, asking the other commissioners to side with him, the district Commissioner, but apparently three on the board have no respect for Marc and his knowledge of the area.
The Related Group has no respect for Vizcaya or the neighborhood and as usual is out for the almighty dollar. Mercy Hospital is a shameless whore. The developers lowered the height to 318 feet from 410 but this is bullshit.
So now it is back to the circus on April 26, 2007. It is a shame that this nonsense has to go on and on when respectable people like Arva Moore Parks speak against the project, but are totally ignored. It's all about the money -- lining people's pockets. It really is sad.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:21 AM
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7 Comments:
While I really don't have a problem with the land deal, I wouldn't get too excited about Sanchez saying he needs more time. This is just a stall tactic for him to see if he can pull more money out of the Related Group before he gives the go ahead.
The land deal is going to happen.
Sent out by Miami City Watch:
Dear Readers:
For those that missed the Commission's Special Meeting yesterday regarding the Mercy project, let me expand on the article in today's Miami Herald:
Early in Tuesday's discussions, opponents of the condo project employed a variety of legal arguments in hopes of derailing the condos.
Among them: one city commissioner had a conflict of interest on the subject and couldn't vote (that commissioner, Sanchez, didn't agree); the conflict is that Joe Sanchez's wife is employed by Greenberg Traurig. Many have found this to be a huge conflict of interest. This issue should be forwarded to the County's Ethics Commission to investigate and opine.
another commissioner, Angel Gonzalez, had previously cast a vote for the condos that didn't really count because of procedural screw-ups (Miami's city attorney shot down that one);
Sec. 2-34. Presiding officer; vacancy.
(a) In accordance with provisions of City Charter section 4(g)(1), the mayor may be the presiding officer of the city commission with the authority to designate another member of the city commission to serve as presiding officer.
(b) The mayor as presiding officer, shall not move, second, debate or vote. If the presiding officer is a member of the city commission, the presiding officer, upon relinquishing the chair, may move, second, debate and vote, subject only to such limitations as are imposed on all members.
(c) In the event of a vacancy in the office of mayor as contemplated in section 12 of the City Charter, the city commissioner designated as the presiding officer/chair, or, in the absence of same, the city commissioner designated as the vice chair, or, in the absence of both, a city commissioner appointed by a majority vote of the city commission shall serve as the ceremonial head of city government until the mayoral vacancy is filled.
(Code 1967, § 2-10; Ord. No. 10927, § 1, 10-3-91; Code 1980, § 2-14; Ord. No. 11564, § 4, 10-28-97; Ord. No. 11642, § 2, 4-14-98)
and that a former city commissioner turned lobbyist, Rosario Kennedy, had inappropriately tried to influence the process by privately contacting city commissioners prior to the public vote.
Ms. Kennedy was at the first reading, in person, lobbying on the second floor while the item was being heard. However last night's issue had to do with her contacting city commissioners prior to the public vote on second reading.
Hope this clarifies the issues.
Some people might surmise votes are for sale.
So what can we actively do about this as citizens (aka "naysayers" according to Perez)?
1.Contact your commissioners.
2.Contribute to the opponents legal defense funds.
3.Donate to Vizaya with direction to use towards beating Related.
4.Contact George Burgess, the County Manager. Ask him what he is going to do?
5. Contact the media.
6. Show up April 26th at 10:15 am. Glare at the commissioners.
Follow the money.
Village West gets paid off.
Natoma paid off.
Bay Heights paid off.
Lucia paid off.
Former City of Miami asst manager paid off.
Commissioner paid off with affordable housing for her district.
Mercy Gets lots of Money.
Jorge Perez makes millions.
I wonder if the Mayor or any of our commissioners will end up working for Jorge Perez some day!
At first the issue was Mercy needs money to upgrade facilities.
Then the issue was traffic.
Now the issue is the sightline from Vizcaya.
All those issues are smoke and mirrors.
The real issue is zoning.
There is no justification to even consider changing the zoning let alone changing it for the advantage of Mercy, Jorge Perez, the rich neighbors or anyone.
The building train is once again on track and there is little doubt that Mercy and the Related Group will get their way and eventually reduce the size of the building as a compromise. and it will be built.
It is a crime that our Mayor and commissioners are not respectful to the needs of our community, they do not abide by our zoning laws and dont even abide by the Grovner Rule that they voted on.
The City and the commissioners will only halt this travisty when they are sued, fined or fired.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb
Don't forget the owner/editor of Miami Monthly was paid off. Sitting in the front row. Lobbying for Related. Odd behavior for a so-called journalist.
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