'Our democratic process is being crushed by our elected officials'
This letter was sent out this morning by Marcelo Fernandes, chair of the Village Council. (Here is our report on last night's meeting).
I am reaching out to my fellow council members as well as to many other residents to encourage participation at our upcoming Village Council Meeting this Monday –January 28 at 6:30 at City Hall – 3500 Pan American Drive.
You may or may not be aware that last night the City Commission meeting included the agenda item of the city’s proposed changes to our NCD code. The item lasted over 3 hours with hundreds of concerned residents speaking for and against this issue. The process for this item for the past three years, as well as last night, has been a great example of our democratic process. Hundreds of residents and policy makers working together to create a better place for us all. I have been extensively involved in this entire process and was amazed at how it all fell apart under the direction of our City Commissioners. It is unacceptable that our Commissioners, holding the highest positions of our city government, completely disregard due process and blatantly refuse to do their jobs. I encourage those that did not attend to please take the time to watch the recorded video of the meeting. See the link below to access the city’s meeting videos (not update yet for last night’s meeting): http://miamifl.iqm2.com/Citizens/Media.aspx
As Chair of the Village Council I will be proposing to issue a letter to the city officials outlining the serious disrespect and lack of due process exemplified by our commissioners at last night’s meeting. I would like to share a draft of this letter with everyone at our meeting to receive comments and constructive feedback. This is not about any specifics of the legislation or about the results of last night’s vote. It is to ensure that our government leaders stop playing dirty politics and serve their powerful position by following the law and its due process. This letter is NOT to be a smear campaign against any one person but an effort to identify improper actions and process that is being allowed to take place while our democratic process is being crushed by our elected officials holding the highest position in our local government.
Please share this email request to attend our meeting and participate with as many of your neighbors as possible.
Your Village Council is committed to our mission statement to advocate for all residents and business owners of the Grove and we need your participation.
Regards,
Marcelo Fernandes, Chair
Coconut Grove Village Council
I am reaching out to my fellow council members as well as to many other residents to encourage participation at our upcoming Village Council Meeting this Monday –January 28 at 6:30 at City Hall – 3500 Pan American Drive.
You may or may not be aware that last night the City Commission meeting included the agenda item of the city’s proposed changes to our NCD code. The item lasted over 3 hours with hundreds of concerned residents speaking for and against this issue. The process for this item for the past three years, as well as last night, has been a great example of our democratic process. Hundreds of residents and policy makers working together to create a better place for us all. I have been extensively involved in this entire process and was amazed at how it all fell apart under the direction of our City Commissioners. It is unacceptable that our Commissioners, holding the highest positions of our city government, completely disregard due process and blatantly refuse to do their jobs. I encourage those that did not attend to please take the time to watch the recorded video of the meeting. See the link below to access the city’s meeting videos (not update yet for last night’s meeting): http://miamifl.iqm2.com/Citizens/Media.aspx
As Chair of the Village Council I will be proposing to issue a letter to the city officials outlining the serious disrespect and lack of due process exemplified by our commissioners at last night’s meeting. I would like to share a draft of this letter with everyone at our meeting to receive comments and constructive feedback. This is not about any specifics of the legislation or about the results of last night’s vote. It is to ensure that our government leaders stop playing dirty politics and serve their powerful position by following the law and its due process. This letter is NOT to be a smear campaign against any one person but an effort to identify improper actions and process that is being allowed to take place while our democratic process is being crushed by our elected officials holding the highest position in our local government.
Please share this email request to attend our meeting and participate with as many of your neighbors as possible.
Your Village Council is committed to our mission statement to advocate for all residents and business owners of the Grove and we need your participation.
Regards,
Marcelo Fernandes, Chair
Coconut Grove Village Council
posted by Tom Falco at 9:25 AM
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10 Comments:
Carollo reasonably asked for a vote by Coconut Grove residents on the matter, I suggest immediate local voting within one or two months max and a vote on secession from City of Miami scheduled for the next general election by Coconut Grove residents.
Good luck with secession. They’ll never let us go
Carollo started by talking about democracy as Greeks envisioned it so he won't have any problem with residents of Coconut Grove voting on secession. Will he?
Well, talk about smoke & mirrors. Greece was a democracy until about 500 AD & turned republic. Only land owner males were allowed to vote. Today the U.S. & many nations are defined as democratic republics "WITH" constitutional safeguards to protect the landless, women, children and minorities. To me Mr. Marcelo Fernandes is on to something. "to a letter to the City officials outlining the serious disrespect and lack of due process exemplified by our commissioners". Some Americans view this Trump wall/fence similar to the Great China Wall to keep out the invading hoards as in the Book "The Rise & Fall of Civilizations" by Arnold Toynbee, caused by extreme & excessive uncontrolled immigration, in this instance involving The City of Miami which some refer to as a Banana Republic. This defined serious disrespect and lack of due process is easy to smell, see & define, more so that trying to define NCD written codes written by well payed lobbyist. I suggest the letter proposed by Mr. Marcelo
Fernandes be formatted/outlined as a federal legal complaint defining these "improper actions and process that is being allowed to take place while our democratic process is being crushed". This concept/approach cannot and will not be swept so easily under the rug. Do not play by their rules? Jobie Steppe
So, basically, it is all about secession? More taxes to pay for Cops, Fire, Garbage, more government, building department, etc, etc, etc? Is this why, although everybody says 'trees, trees, trees', there is nothing in the proposed NCDs that specifically address the tree (canopy) situation?
On Tuesday, February 5th the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board (HEPB) will convene at City Hall at 3:00 when FIU, Miami Dade County and Arquitectonica will seek approval for the demolition of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Their plan will demolish the entire Playhouse, with the exception of the front facade, and will replace it with a parking garage, retail space, an office building, and an FIU satellite campus with a theater "room" with only 300 seats! Come out, be heard and protect our neighborhood, Coconut Grove!
Actually it is not about secession, Commissioner Carollo suggested Greek style democracy at the tail end of the meeting when he showed up to decide on a NCD legislation after most constituents had spoken. That is certainly the democracy he is talking about.
There is no one to blame but Ken Russell. A few months back, there was a VERY important issue in Commissioner Wily Gort's district: The Melreese Golf Course vote to allow a huge development and soccer stadium.
Gort was adamantly opposed to this, wanting to save one of Miami's last green spaces. Who voted AGAINST Gort ?
Ken Russell.
So this is why Ken brought this upon our Grove neighborhood. He needed a 3 rd vote and he implored Wily Gort for it. Ken got from Wily what Wily got from Ken. NO.
This is why the NCD amendment failed last night.
Grace Solaris summed it up quite well, the devil is in the details. Apparently the village council and many others have not done a careful analysis of those details.
For example:
Existing definition:
Lot Coverage: The area of the Lot occupied by all Buildings, excluding Structures such as decks, pools, and trellises. (Now set at 50% )
Proposed definition:
Lot Coverage: The area of the Lot occupied by all Buildings, excluding single-story unenclosed Structures such as decks, pools, Trellises, Carports, Porches, verandas, pergolas, Pavilions, porticos, Driveways, and pathways. Unenclosed shall mean having no exterior walls other than those that are enclosing interior space of the principal structure. (That means it can be enclosed on 2 or 3 sides)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/93znqpqxbn2fkv2/lot%20coverage%20diagram%20slide%207.pptx?dl=0
Who did what or where is the smoking gun? A law, rule or regulation is made by a team. Team players are assigned a sentence or paragraph. Team players are usually in law schools or study government. Team players form sentence structure. Years later the team players seek positions where they are in a position to define precisely what a law, rule or regulation was intended to mean; this can be defined as lobbying. A judge or commission listens and grants a warrant. No one can out maneuver their expert opinion since they wrote it. If you understand their game plan you can succeed via a 12-person jury - ONLY. Jobie Steppe
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