County seems foggy on what happened at meeting
They claim in the report that the majority of people present at last week's Playhouse meeting were in favor of the county's plans. I think they mean the people in blue shirts that they planted from GableStage were in favor of the plan. To be honest, I don't think any of those people even know where the playhouse is. It was just one of those less than smart tactics to push something that the public does not want. The county plan is not appreciated by anyone other than a handful of county people and developers. The county plans, shown here, really don't save much of the current playhouse and most of the history will be destroyed if their plan goes ahead.
The report also claims that County Mayor Carlos Gimenez "urged the conveners and the public to support the County’s plan." I clearly remember the mayor saying that if the money could be raised, he would support a new plan for a 700 seat playhouse. There are tapes of the meeting that prove that.
The mayor seems to have not had his mind on the meeting either, as he calls what the county has done "substantial progress" in his report on the meeting. I clearly remember our Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera saying that the county has not done a damn thing in four years and he was quite upset over it. The county has not even submitted a report in four years, let alone pick up a hammer. Carlos is the architect of getting the state to relinquish its hold on the playhouse and turning it over to the county through years of hard work. Since that day, the playhouse has been left to rot, termites have eaten away at the insides, the roof leaks massive amounts of water and outside walls have fallen off. The county, who are entrusted with the building did not even bother to protect it as Hurricane Irma approached. So I sort of consider Carlos Lopez-Cantera the arbiter of the playhouse.
The county report conveniently leaves out where Carlos read the county the riot act, claiming that they are essentially inept and he was not at all pleased with GableStage and does not consider them capable of running the playhouse.
Here is the mayor's report. I am not really understanding how the report is quite the opposite of what really is happening, which is nothing. Nothing is happening.
The report also says, "The majority of the speakers providing public input spoke in favor of the County’s plan." Again, that should say the majority of the bused in blue shirted speakers are in favor of the plan. The majority of residents are not in favor of the county's plan.
I covered the meeting here. That's what really happened.
I am seriously wondering who is in the pockets of the developers. I guess we need to follow the money. When developer Jorge Perez of The Related Group stood up at last week's meeting and
There is an appeal hearing to stop the demolition on Thursday, December 14 before the City Commission. This is the appeal brought on by Grovites Barbara Lange and Katrina Morris.
The meeting starts at 9 am. City Hall is at 3500 Pan American Drive.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
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3 Comments:
We need to go to the appeal meeting and tell the truth that was not told in the Mayor's report, with no mention of the claims made against the current plan by none other than the Lt Gov.
No one has discussed making modifications to either of the plans i.e. removing the Black Box or something else to reduce the over budget costs or saving the ENTIRE facade and reducing retail, apartments, etc in the County plan, upping it to 450 seats. Where is this in reasonable discussion? The West Grove still wants no retail on Charles, a park, etc. Which plan is open to addressing the issues that remain unanswered?
I will go on the 14th and I suggest others do , as well and try to push for reasonable accommodation to either plan, something more collaborative or at least responsive to the opposition. The Mayor has changed his tune since the meeting and maybe Perez is the one pushing his buttons. To find out he needs to be publicly asked why he changed horses and closed off his openness to the alternate plan after the meeting.
Lies are becoming the norm and are going to destroy us.
I was on the board of a Community Center that remodeled a historic theater. We wished we could have modernized and expanded the back stage areas for sets, and built a larger stage and dressing areas, but we could not expand the building footprint. The result is that the historic facilities make it difficult to attract top quality shows. This should be the first priority so the theater can be profitable and self-sustaining. 700 seats and parking are a must, too to insure adequate ticket revenue and convenient parking.
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