Voting, the playhouse and other Grove gossip
I went to vote at City Hall last week. I voted for only one person for Village Council, I left the other eight blank, I voted for Suarez for Mayor and I voted NO on the Miami Forever Bond and the other proposals.
On Thursday, it was announced at a Miami Fire Fighters and Police Officers Retirement Trust (FIPO) meeting that the City of Miami owes the Miami Fire and Police pension fund $213 million due to changes that were made in the past on first responders' retirement benefits. It will allegedly cost taxpayers between $20 million to $25 million dollars each year on top of regular retirement contributions for the next 15 to 20 years according to FIPO president Edward Lugo.
I don't want the Miami Forever Bond money to end up paying that. So again, I voted No.
I don't trust the city. I voted before I saw the comment on Grapevine story about the bond issue. If you are unsure, check out the long comment with the links to questionable websites and such.
===
As I was entering, a friend was exiting a meeting at City Hall and we started talking. He had been out of town so he asked me the latest on the playhouse. The garage came up. He says we don't need a garage. He says the future is Uber and mass transit, which I do agree with. Some of the new buildings being built downtown don't have garages.
But I reminded him that we lost two major parking areas at the Coconut Grove Bank and at the Oak Street Garage, all in the name of greed. Those buildings don't belong there.
Anyway, we need parking now in the Grove. We may not need condos as part of the Playhouse garage, which makes no sense. I think we need to take that space where the condos would be and make them parking spaces. Makes no sense to build a garage and then give half of the space away for living quarters. We need parking, not condos.
===
At noon on Halloween day, the barricades were already up all over the Center Grove. For a second, I was questioning this wondering if it was for a parade, then I realized it is the Grove's attempt to kill off a fun holiday.
For the past few years, the police, the BID and other city leaders have been trying to kill Halloween in Coconut Grove. I'm really not quite sure why. People go to Wynwood, which is part of the City of Miami along with Brickell and that seems to be ok. And of course Lincoln Road gets massive crowds and they welcome them.
In the Grove for the past few years city leaders have tried to kill off the thousands of people who show up as if the Grove wasn't dead enough as it is. "Let's get rid of the thousands of people who might spend money at our bars and restaurants just for the hell of it."
An anonymous source (I don't think I ever said that before), from the police department said that this will be the last year for Coconut Grove Halloween. I'm not sure how they are going to stop people from showing up, but maybe they can blast them with water hoses if the barrage of cops on horse back doesn't work.
Less than smart.
===
Saw this in Curbed NY. There is a proposed amendment that will curb new skyscrapers and over-building. The new projects would have to go through a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The current sky scrapers planned would probably be rejected if this bill is passed and signed by the mayor.
===
Seems like a fellow Grovite was thrown out of his house on Loquat Thursday. His house was condemned and bulldozers came in to tear down the house. Is that still done in this day and age? He was last seen sitting on the ground watching from across the street with his dog as his neighbors cheered.
===
A large swath of trees was destroyed in the North Grove and it's just business as usual. So much for the extra code enforcement people that are on duty. Guess it's the same thing, when you report an incident, they claim there is no such incident.
Business as usual in the Grove.
On Thursday, it was announced at a Miami Fire Fighters and Police Officers Retirement Trust (FIPO) meeting that the City of Miami owes the Miami Fire and Police pension fund $213 million due to changes that were made in the past on first responders' retirement benefits. It will allegedly cost taxpayers between $20 million to $25 million dollars each year on top of regular retirement contributions for the next 15 to 20 years according to FIPO president Edward Lugo.
I don't want the Miami Forever Bond money to end up paying that. So again, I voted No.
I don't trust the city. I voted before I saw the comment on Grapevine story about the bond issue. If you are unsure, check out the long comment with the links to questionable websites and such.
===
As I was entering, a friend was exiting a meeting at City Hall and we started talking. He had been out of town so he asked me the latest on the playhouse. The garage came up. He says we don't need a garage. He says the future is Uber and mass transit, which I do agree with. Some of the new buildings being built downtown don't have garages.
But I reminded him that we lost two major parking areas at the Coconut Grove Bank and at the Oak Street Garage, all in the name of greed. Those buildings don't belong there.
Anyway, we need parking now in the Grove. We may not need condos as part of the Playhouse garage, which makes no sense. I think we need to take that space where the condos would be and make them parking spaces. Makes no sense to build a garage and then give half of the space away for living quarters. We need parking, not condos.
===
At noon on Halloween day, the barricades were already up all over the Center Grove. For a second, I was questioning this wondering if it was for a parade, then I realized it is the Grove's attempt to kill off a fun holiday.
For the past few years, the police, the BID and other city leaders have been trying to kill Halloween in Coconut Grove. I'm really not quite sure why. People go to Wynwood, which is part of the City of Miami along with Brickell and that seems to be ok. And of course Lincoln Road gets massive crowds and they welcome them.
In the Grove for the past few years city leaders have tried to kill off the thousands of people who show up as if the Grove wasn't dead enough as it is. "Let's get rid of the thousands of people who might spend money at our bars and restaurants just for the hell of it."
An anonymous source (I don't think I ever said that before), from the police department said that this will be the last year for Coconut Grove Halloween. I'm not sure how they are going to stop people from showing up, but maybe they can blast them with water hoses if the barrage of cops on horse back doesn't work.
Less than smart.
===
Saw this in Curbed NY. There is a proposed amendment that will curb new skyscrapers and over-building. The new projects would have to go through a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The current sky scrapers planned would probably be rejected if this bill is passed and signed by the mayor.
===
Seems like a fellow Grovite was thrown out of his house on Loquat Thursday. His house was condemned and bulldozers came in to tear down the house. Is that still done in this day and age? He was last seen sitting on the ground watching from across the street with his dog as his neighbors cheered.
===
A large swath of trees was destroyed in the North Grove and it's just business as usual. So much for the extra code enforcement people that are on duty. Guess it's the same thing, when you report an incident, they claim there is no such incident.
Business as usual in the Grove.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
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3 Comments:
What happens to the playhouse will define Coconut Grove as an urban concrete grave yard haven or an historic natural habitat.
Every police must to be fitted with cameras to increase ethical behavior and reduce lawsuits payouts before they should expect any payout and Lugo is too cocky and immature for a police force with major image problems.
It is Business as usual in the Grove. Developers and people that know somebody in City hall or have the money (wink, wink) the can do no wrong in the Grove.But if you are a regular fellow ( homeowner) you better have all the permits ready, even if is just to trim your own tree. The NET will come for you with a ferociousness reserved to people with no connections. I have lived in the Grove since 1998, and we are ready to leave it.because of all the shenanigans that goes on with every city department. God save the Grove!!!
The story of the Home on Loquat is worthy of Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals TV episode, with the prime occupant of that so-called home being the prime culprit.
Every once and a while the City does do something right, and condemning that home was 100% right and 11 years overdue!
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