Commission defers Grove Harbour project in Sarnoff's absence
Comm. Marc Sarnoff was not present for today's City Commission meeting, but he told the Commission to go ahead with the discussion and vote on the Grove Harbour Marina project.
Comm. Joe Sanchez was adamant about deferring the issue until Comm. Sarnoff returns. He didn't want to pass the issue knowing that Comm. Sarnoff was against the office building project.
Sanchez rightly felt that the district Comm. Marc Sarnoff should be present for this important issue. After all, it is his district.
Comm. Tomas Reglado wanted to discuss the issue anyway feeling that Comm. Sarnoff made his position known. Comm. Angel Gonzalez also wanted to push ahead with the issue. I am beginning to question Tomas Regaldo these days. I used to always agree with him and he always took the Grove's side on issues but now he seems very interested in seeing this office building built for some strange reason.
Pete Hernandez, the City Manager, said that Comm. Sarnoff emailed him permission to have the City Commission go ahead with the issue -- to discuss and vote. But still, this is a lack of respect for Comm. Sarnoff. This is a very important issue, he is the only one against it. Voting on the issue without him is not right.
Rightly so, the Commission voted to defer the issue until December's meeting.
I guess Comm. Sarnoff was trying to be fair to the Commission by not holding up the issue, but I think he should be fair with the district and not care about what the Commission thinks. This was too important to proceed without his input and I think he should have made that clear to the Commission and not just give them permission to vote as they pleased in his absence.
I am sure he only did that out of respect for them, not wanting to hold up the proceedings, but again, this wasn't about a traffic light or picnic permit, it is a very important issue and his presence is required.
Comm. Joe Sanchez was adamant about deferring the issue until Comm. Sarnoff returns. He didn't want to pass the issue knowing that Comm. Sarnoff was against the office building project.
Sanchez rightly felt that the district Comm. Marc Sarnoff should be present for this important issue. After all, it is his district.
Comm. Tomas Reglado wanted to discuss the issue anyway feeling that Comm. Sarnoff made his position known. Comm. Angel Gonzalez also wanted to push ahead with the issue. I am beginning to question Tomas Regaldo these days. I used to always agree with him and he always took the Grove's side on issues but now he seems very interested in seeing this office building built for some strange reason.
Pete Hernandez, the City Manager, said that Comm. Sarnoff emailed him permission to have the City Commission go ahead with the issue -- to discuss and vote. But still, this is a lack of respect for Comm. Sarnoff. This is a very important issue, he is the only one against it. Voting on the issue without him is not right.
Rightly so, the Commission voted to defer the issue until December's meeting.
I guess Comm. Sarnoff was trying to be fair to the Commission by not holding up the issue, but I think he should be fair with the district and not care about what the Commission thinks. This was too important to proceed without his input and I think he should have made that clear to the Commission and not just give them permission to vote as they pleased in his absence.
I am sure he only did that out of respect for them, not wanting to hold up the proceedings, but again, this wasn't about a traffic light or picnic permit, it is a very important issue and his presence is required.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:20 PM
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7 Comments:
Did Sarnoff offer any reason as to why he was absent? "Pressing family issue", or else? Maybe he did, who knows.
Or is he wimping out? If he believes so firmly that the infamous building is wrong, he should have said, "My apologies, can't attend today, but it's my District, please pospone."
Sarnoff is out of the country on business.
I was told that Comm. Sarnoff is in Dubai attending some conference (hope we are not paying for it). I'm surprised that he scheduled this knowing that two important items would be on the agenda; Grove Harbour project and the EAR. As for Comm. Regalado, what makes you think he was going to vote in favor of Grove Harbour? He knew exactly how Comm. Sarnoff felt, so moving forward was not an issue. The really issue now is that Comm. Sarnoff is now OK with the project (e-mail from Sarnoff read into the record by the City Manager) since they, the administration, applicant and Comm. Sarnoff worked it out. Now imagine, Comm. Regalado would have voted with the Grove yet your own Comm. would have voted with the applicant, but since he wasn't there it would have been 3 to 1, again. Glad it got deferred. Should be very interesting to see what Comm. Sarnoff has to say.
If the building is approved, that would be horrendous.
Coconut Grove needs to be free of the City of Miami completely, and be it's own city. And it will.
Didn't we vote for a salary for commissioners so that they would better serve the residents? Commissioners should not be allowed to miss Commission Meetings because of other employment. They are doing a disservice to their constituents - case in point.
I agree. Commissioners should be there for all commission hearings. Can you hear me Spence-Jones? I've noticed watching on TV and maybe you have too how these commissioners leave the dais when they don't want to vote on a certain item? Maybe they are taking a phone call from Diaz on how to vote. If they are in City Hall, the vote should be held up until they get back on the dais then the public would know just how often they leave.
Can someone please help me in understanding what this whole Grove Harbour new marina building is supposed to do. What do they want to offer that we (the public) don't already have?
PS Comment about the Grove becoming the next Sunny Isles, you got it right there!
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