Commission 2 candidates visit Village Council
The five District 2 City Commission candidates came out to speak at the Coconut Grove Village Council meeting last night. Each candidate spoke for five minutes and then the floor was opened for questions by people in the audience and also the Village Council members.
Candidates running are incumbent Marc Sarnoff, Kate Callahan, Michelle Niemeyer, Donna Milo and Williams Armbrister.
Grove issues that came up included the tree issue, where mature trees are being replaced around the Grove in the name of street scape renovation. Donna Milo who spoke first said that the City should have "Zero tolerance for knocking down trees," she said that the sidewalks should meander around the trees if they are in the way of making the sidewalks ADA compliant. To which the audience burst into applause.
It's interesting to note that the majority of the public is against the removal of any of the trees in the name of project.
Donna went on to explain a process where the sidewalks slope around trees to accommodate the roots, rather than pulling out fully grown trees to replant smaller trees to redirect the roots, which is the plan. "It's not rocket science, it's done every day!" She proclaimed, regarding the changing of the sidewalks without harming trees.
Kate Callahan explained that the house she lives in was built around a 350 year old oak tree. To preserve the tree, the house was literally built around the tree.
Michelle Niemeyer explained that she was the person instrumental in stopping the cutting of the trees on the SW 27 Avenue project. So she is totally against the mass destruction of trees in the name of progress.
Williams Armbrister was more concerned with the mess left in Village West when developers came in, knocked down everything in site and then vanished. He is against commercial development in Village West and said, "We are being sold out," regarding Village West. He said, "Something is wrong with the foundation at City Hall. The foundation is broken and needs to be removed."
Marc Sarnoff had a few posters explaining some of his accomplishments over the years that he was in office. He brought up the Mercy Hospital project, a large development that was proposed for the waterfront land (300 Bay residences) and the Grove Harbour building debacle (a large office building proposed for the Grove Harbour marina location) and how he voted against both. But to be honest, that is like apples and oranges since none of the other candidates were in his position when those projects were voted on or discussed. He did not explain why he wants so many trees removed in the Grove, which is the issue at hand now. But then again, no one asked him the question.
No one was thrown hard questions and it was quite civil. To be honest, I can't remember much of the other questions asked. One man in the audience asked all five candidates about FPL's nuclear power plant plans for Turkey Point. The candidates all showed concern about it being so close to large population centers.
Patrick Sessions, Village Council member, asked Marc Sarnoff about the Village Council being thrown out of City Hall a couple of years ago, which now does not allow them to be on tv or be in in a more professional or comfortable meeting place. Sarnoff said it was Mayor Tomas Regalado who threw them out, but the consensus has always been that it was Sarnoff's decision because he did not want the 3 am/5 am last call bar issue discussed and other things that might hurt him, like giving tv air time to those who might run against him.
I personally spoke with Mayor Tomas Regalado the night they were thrown out. He was not even mayor at the time, so it was strange that he would make that decision before even getting into office. When I spoke to him, he told me he didn't know what I was talking about, that he had nothing to do with that and he said something like, "I am being sworn into office tomorrow [as mayor], do you think I have anything else on my mind right now.
So who knows what the real story is. But most felt that Sarnoff did not want the Village Council to have tv time since he knew some of the members would run against him at election time, which turned out to be true with Michelle and Kate. At the time, it was actually believed that Patrick Sessions would be the one running for the Commission 2 seat.
No one brought up the ethics complaint that Michelle lodged against Sarnoff yesterday. It's interesting that the usually rowdy Grove crowd was quite subdued and major questions were not asked.
The candidates meet tonight, October 21, at another forum. The League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County and Open Media Miami will be holding a candidates’ forum for the commission seats for District 1 and 2 at the American Legion Post (6445 NE 7 Avenue) from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.
Along with the five District 2 Candidates, will be Incumbent Wilfredo Gort and Shawn Selleck from District 1.Tell the candidates what you want them to talk about you may submit your questions to: news@openmediamiami.com, or post it on their Facebook wall at www.Facebook.com/OpenMediaMiami.
Early voting starts tomorrow, October 22, so this is a good opportunity to meet the candidates
Candidates running are incumbent Marc Sarnoff, Kate Callahan, Michelle Niemeyer, Donna Milo and Williams Armbrister.
Grove issues that came up included the tree issue, where mature trees are being replaced around the Grove in the name of street scape renovation. Donna Milo who spoke first said that the City should have "Zero tolerance for knocking down trees," she said that the sidewalks should meander around the trees if they are in the way of making the sidewalks ADA compliant. To which the audience burst into applause.
It's interesting to note that the majority of the public is against the removal of any of the trees in the name of project.
Donna went on to explain a process where the sidewalks slope around trees to accommodate the roots, rather than pulling out fully grown trees to replant smaller trees to redirect the roots, which is the plan. "It's not rocket science, it's done every day!" She proclaimed, regarding the changing of the sidewalks without harming trees.
Kate Callahan explained that the house she lives in was built around a 350 year old oak tree. To preserve the tree, the house was literally built around the tree.
Michelle Niemeyer explained that she was the person instrumental in stopping the cutting of the trees on the SW 27 Avenue project. So she is totally against the mass destruction of trees in the name of progress.
Williams Armbrister was more concerned with the mess left in Village West when developers came in, knocked down everything in site and then vanished. He is against commercial development in Village West and said, "We are being sold out," regarding Village West. He said, "Something is wrong with the foundation at City Hall. The foundation is broken and needs to be removed."
Marc Sarnoff had a few posters explaining some of his accomplishments over the years that he was in office. He brought up the Mercy Hospital project, a large development that was proposed for the waterfront land (300 Bay residences) and the Grove Harbour building debacle (a large office building proposed for the Grove Harbour marina location) and how he voted against both. But to be honest, that is like apples and oranges since none of the other candidates were in his position when those projects were voted on or discussed. He did not explain why he wants so many trees removed in the Grove, which is the issue at hand now. But then again, no one asked him the question.
No one was thrown hard questions and it was quite civil. To be honest, I can't remember much of the other questions asked. One man in the audience asked all five candidates about FPL's nuclear power plant plans for Turkey Point. The candidates all showed concern about it being so close to large population centers.
Patrick Sessions, Village Council member, asked Marc Sarnoff about the Village Council being thrown out of City Hall a couple of years ago, which now does not allow them to be on tv or be in in a more professional or comfortable meeting place. Sarnoff said it was Mayor Tomas Regalado who threw them out, but the consensus has always been that it was Sarnoff's decision because he did not want the 3 am/5 am last call bar issue discussed and other things that might hurt him, like giving tv air time to those who might run against him.
I personally spoke with Mayor Tomas Regalado the night they were thrown out. He was not even mayor at the time, so it was strange that he would make that decision before even getting into office. When I spoke to him, he told me he didn't know what I was talking about, that he had nothing to do with that and he said something like, "I am being sworn into office tomorrow [as mayor], do you think I have anything else on my mind right now.
So who knows what the real story is. But most felt that Sarnoff did not want the Village Council to have tv time since he knew some of the members would run against him at election time, which turned out to be true with Michelle and Kate. At the time, it was actually believed that Patrick Sessions would be the one running for the Commission 2 seat.
No one brought up the ethics complaint that Michelle lodged against Sarnoff yesterday. It's interesting that the usually rowdy Grove crowd was quite subdued and major questions were not asked.
The candidates meet tonight, October 21, at another forum. The League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade County and Open Media Miami will be holding a candidates’ forum for the commission seats for District 1 and 2 at the American Legion Post (6445 NE 7 Avenue) from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.
Along with the five District 2 Candidates, will be Incumbent Wilfredo Gort and Shawn Selleck from District 1.Tell the candidates what you want them to talk about you may submit your questions to: news@openmediamiami.com, or post it on their Facebook wall at www.Facebook.com/OpenMediaMiami.
Early voting starts tomorrow, October 22, so this is a good opportunity to meet the candidates
posted by Tom Falco at 8:10 AM
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