Opening a dialogue about the 3 am bar closings
District Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, sent out a letter today, to the Village Council president's outgoing, Martin Zilber, and incoming Patrick Sessions, stating that he would like to have a public meeting in January to "afford all sides to place before the City of Miami Commission the issue of the cessation of alcoholic sales in Coconut Grove at 3 am."
posted by Tom Falco at 8:37 PM
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16 Comments:
Why wait 7 weeks?
Well for one thing, there is no City Commission quorum and basically no City Commission. I think this is fair. Also, the new Village Council will be steated and they can be involved in the talks.
All of a sudden Sarnoff is scheduling public meetings all over town. He's obviously up to something, he must realize he's lost the Grove and now he will try to suck up and get the Grove back. I see a good Soap Opera developing or maybe a telenovela?
Sarnoff strikes again! Don't fall for it! Too much can happen in 7 wks.
Excellent suggestion. It is the right thing to do, inviting all concerned residents to attend the meeting. Definitely an appropriate gesture.
A sweater just moved to the top of the devil's christmas list, because clearly hell has frozen over.
Seriously though, he really has no choice but to let this happen. He's out on front street as they say.
Hey Marc - why did this take so long? Maybe you wouldn't be the most loathed politician in town, had you actually taken hold of your arrogance an listened sooner.
Read the letter. It is not inviting the public to a community meeting, all warm and fuzzy and town hall style, to find out what the Grove wants (that is the role the Village Council has filled for years). The letter says that Marc intends to have a public hearing on this issue before the Commission. WAKE UP FOLKS! Marc will draft legislation or a discussion item which will steer the discussion in the direction he wants it to go, he will arrange for his MADD ladies to come and preach the fear of God and the danger of drunk drivers into the new Commissioners, and the meeting will be during the work day on a Thursday when most people won't be able to be there because they are at work.
We need to discuss this issue at tonight's Village Council meeting to come to a community consensus on the issue. Don't think that the timing of Marc's letter wasn't intended to convince the council to back off and to convince those of you who care about this issue not to come. I look forward to seeing you there at the Arts & Minds School's Abanico Theater (4th Floor) tonight at 6 pm. It's more important than ever that you attend to let us know how you feel and to participate in the forum we as Grovites are lucky to have, the Village Council.
@Michelle Niemeyer...
Exactly. Please come out tonight.
There is already a public meeting in place, scheduled for tonight, to "afford all sides," to weigh in on the matter. It is the Village Council meeting taking place tonight at Abanico Theater on Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove.
The "Opening a Dialogue" was actually recommended for discussion to the Village Council back in September at the Residents and Business Subcommittee by an enthusiastic group of attendees.
Unfortunately the opportunity for the VC to have this public discussion has not presented itself owing to various and sundry "scheduling and technical reasons" that have served to stall this out.
I very much look forward to that opportunity tonight.
Michelle:
the letter you talk about would be interesting to Grapevine readers. Can you please send Grap a copy so he may link to it for this blog?
I chose not to post the letter since it is only two lines and wastes a lot of bandwith. I received the letter personally and don't really need Michelle to send the letter. Thank you for your concern Anonymous.
We'd probably need a secret decoder ring to read it anyway.
"Dear Gentlemen:
It is my intention to have a public meeting in January of 2010 to afford all sides to place before the City of Miami Commission the issue of the cessation of alcoholic [sic] sales in Coconut Grove at 3AM.
This meeting would allow all sides the opportunity to be heard, all facts presented, and all Commissioners can weigh in on this issue.
Yours very truly,
Marc D. Sarnoff
CHAIRMAN [yes, in caps in case we didn't notice] - City Commission
District 2 Commissioner
"intention" DOES NOT EQUAL "actually scheduled."
Thanks Michelle.
The CGVC is an advisory board that holds meetings, forms committees, discusses issues, votes and makes recommendations. Our district 2 Commissioner and his fellow Commissioners are not obligated to accept the CGVC recommendation. In fact, plenty of Commissioners seldom agree with the CGVC. But the most recent exception was when the CGVC made a huge mistake by recommending approval of the G-I zoning for Mercy Hospital to build three unnecessary luxury condo towers. Three Commissioners agree to that travesty even though Sarnoff, Regalado and most Grovites where against it. Fortunately the courts declared that constituted illegal spot-zoning and that vote was overruled. Too bad that vote by the CGVC and those three Commissioners ended up coating the Vizcayans hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight that case. Too bad the CGVC helped three Commissioners and the Mayor at that time with their ill-gotten plans to rezone our community against the wishes and best inertest of our citizens. The CGVC can have all the meetings they wish, form lots of committees and vote on plenty of issues. But they would be more useful if they actually took ownership of some of the achievable issues and really solved some of our problems with real efforts and positive results. The CGVC may never solve world famine, malaria, world peace or the Cuba embargo situation. But the CGVC can help with the Post Office, art in public places, Glasshouse return to a community center or restaurant & help attract folk back to Peacock Park, rude police, out of control parking authority, street pot-holes, uneven sidewalk pavers, better landscaping, more flowers, special events, panhandlers, marketing the Grove, noise issues, boarded up buildings, illegal banners, litter and other important Grove issues. We want the CGVC to actually be useful to the Grove. They need to protect what we have and help to make things better. All Grovites wish the best for the newly elected members of the CGVC and hope that they will actually accomplish great things with less talk, fewer committees and actual deeds. If you really wish to voice your concerns about the 3 AM or 5 AM bar closing issue then please attend the Commissioners meeting in January. That is when you will be heard by your elected representatives that will help decide polices that will be implemented and effect us all for years to come. You need to convince them and only them, what is in the best interest of both Grovites and business operators that will benefit all of the Grove. Bring more then just your anger or passion for whichever side of the issue you are on. Bring facts, petition signatures, statistics, wisdom, common sense and some attorneys if you got’em.
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