Our city commission is an embarrassment
I didn't stay for the Magic City brouhaha after the hours long debate on the NCD issue, which ended up being a waste of time, but if you read the Herald report on the Magic City issue, it appears like all hell broke loose when our district commissioner Ken Russell abruptly called the meeting off, using a little known rule, where the chairman can end the meeting if it extends beyond 10 pm, I believe the meeting went to midnight.
So nothing got done regarding the Magic City development in Little Haiti and nothing got done regarding the NCD and the commission basically had deferrals after deferrals. I have literally spent six or eight hours at times, sitting at a meeting, where the end result is nothing. There should almost be a law where a decision has to be made at a meeting. People take time from work, from home, from everything to sit in City Hall for hours on end and nothing gets done. NOTHING! The commissioners should be ashamed of themselves, if they are too incompetent to do the job, they should be removed.
Many of them wander around during meetings, they don't have the common courtesy to sit and listen to what's going on. If they're board, maybe they should leave the commission. People have asked me why I don't run for village council or even my own condo board, and I tell them, "Because I don't want to go to meetings."
I'm wondering if Ken was still upset because he was shut down earlier in the day over the NCD issue. And I am wondering if the NCD issue was put off by the other commissioners because one of the big developers in the Grove - Drive Development, just applied for dozens of waivers to knock down more houses. Were the commissioners stalling until the waiver approvals went through? I truly believe the other commissioners are jealous of Coconut Grove and do not want the best for us.
Now that the NCD issue is put off for up to six months, who knows how much damage Drive Development and others will do to the neighborhoods.
Miami is one of the most corrupt cities in the country. And I think we have some of the jerkiest commissioners in the country, too. I like Ken and I'm not speaking about Ken, but some of these guys, not all, don't belong on that dais, but people get who they vote for, so there they are, sitting, or wandering around the chambers without a freaking clue.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
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16 Comments:
Could this have anything to do with Crazy Joe back in the spotlight?
Ken is getting his comeuppance for undermining Commissioner Willie Gort on the sweetheart Beckham stadium deal at Melreese. Commissioner Gort, whose district includes Melreese, vehemently opposed having the stadium built at Melreese. Instead of respecting the local commissioner's wish, as is often done for matters involving zoning or development, Ken pulled an 11th hour bait and switch and decided to let the citizens of all of Miami decide whether to allow the stadium to be built in Commissioner Gort's district. Ken can't have it both ways. Either you defer to local commissioners' preference on local zoning/development issues or you cannot complain when outside commissioners undermine your local preferences. Looks like Ken and his "esteemed" staff are still cutting their teeth in the game of politics.
Anonymous at 8:20 a.m. nailed it. This is about Melreese, a disaster for Miami. Giving away sorely needed public park space for private financial gain. Commissioner Russell showed us that he is not fit to represent our district. I don’t doubt his passion and commitment but he’s outmatched in the game of politics and has made all the wrong moves. And we, the citizens, are the losers.
8:20 is right. Plus Several other mistakes. Ken Russell endorsed/supported the failed campaign of Alfie Leon v. Joe Carollo. Carollo will not let him forget that. Ken Russell endorsed/supported the failed campaign of Ralph Rosado v. Manolo Reyes. On top of that Ken is an amateur when it comes to running the meetings as Chair.
What went on in the City of Miami on Thursday is a black eye for all and it will actively discourage those who want to invest in our City. Commissioner Ken Russell, the Chair, could not get a motion or even a second for his NCD rewrite for Coconut Grove with his fellow Commissioners. He even brazenly told them and campaigned from the dais that he would run on the NCD if his Commissioners would support him, essentially claiming a referendum of property rights through his re-election campaign. Two commissioners were actually trying to find a way to support him but immediately stopped after hearing his campaign speech while actually on the dais. They both exclaimed “this is not about you!”
Instead of accepting that the NCD was dead due to his inability to comply with State and city rules, he childishly attacked his fellow commissioners. As the District Commissioner for Little Haiti was speaking, Russell could be heard saying well if you don’t support me on my issues I will not support you on yours. He then invoked the 5 day rule because Commissioner Hardemon wanted to obtain some developer proffered concessions for his neighborhood. Hardemon then passionately pleaded his case that there will always be opponents because people always want to say they tried to halt change. Russell then stated discussion was over because the 5 day rule does not allow amendments from the dais. After being overruled by the City Attorney, Russell then invoked a little known rule in the City which requires all 5 Commissioners to hear a matter beyond 10 PM! He then abruptly ended the meeting with no further discussion.
Our Coconut Grove and our City Commission is being run by a dictator. It is Russell’s way or the highway. He is a spoiled brat with that gavel, and is an embarrassment to our Village. How will he will be able to get anything done as our commissioner after Thursday’s temper tantrum?
Next election vote Ken out!!
Ken is an amateur who thinks he is ready to be state representative but cannot even get it right with the small local issues.
He falsely claimed the NCD reform was about trees when we all know it was for the economic benefit of acolyte on the village council Marcelo Fernandes.
In any case, what stopped the NCD reform was not the city fighting corruption, it was just dumb luck and the incompetence of the Russell/Fernandes team who could not even write the proposed text in a legally-compliant way.
The Grove is represented by a #ComradeChe who, just like the real Che, cannot organize a piss-up in a Brewery!!
This afternoon my 9 yr old grandson played in a golf tournament at Melreese through First Tee with lots of other kids. It was a joy! Looking around at all the kids so excited to be playing and their parents, brothers, sisters along, it nauseated me to think this whole place and ambiance may well be going away because of all the political crap going on and the money grubbers. The baseball field was packed too and lots of wonderful noise for the players running the bases was reverberating out to us. I couldn't believe when Mayor Suaraz in an interview on local TV called Melreese a PRIVATE golf course. Unbelievable!
@Judy, I too was at the kids tournament today and thought the same thing, even the baseball field roars. Over 120 people when you count family members. What a great program, course, and the love of the folks that run the place.
Ken voted with Carollo and Keon and his patron Francis Suarez to demolish Melreese Park was exactly what Marc Sarnoff would have done. Sarnoff would stab nature lovers in their backs so he could please another billonaire. Sarnoff was the swing vote that gave us the disastrous Marlins deal. $3 Billion later...
#ComradeChe? That is shameful. Russell's only handicap is a couple of low class elected racists who call him Kim Jung-un. Yes he is a minority in Miami, white, Japanese and American born in a city overtaken by a ruling minority hell bent to expanding its rule. He is decent enough not to call a fellow commissioner Fidel Castro despite them closely emulating Fidel and secretly admiring his rule with an iron fist. These are the same elements who turned the Good Old Party upside down into an ugly clan.
Ken is a corrupt and must be voted out
FACTS OR OPINIONS. A fact can be proven, an opinion can be argued. Most TV or printed commentary include the words may, might, must, can & could. All of these comments are subjective & meaningless opinions/gossip. When you burp out a blab about Ken or others you're actually, in my opinion, referring to your own inadequacies & inability to compete with the lobbyist & their lawyers who create the script, the words that make up how the Coconut Grove Playhouse or these NCD rules and regulations are interpreted . These people sit around morning, noon, nightly & burn the midnight oil to baffle seemingly intelligent concerned citizens & commissioners similar to a driver stopped @ a red light, rear ended by a police vehicle and get a ticket for having a worn tire. File a legal complaint and tell a judge the fact(s) about a lose of trees, traffic, and general quality of life. THEY, the money movers, the developers, count on you to take no more energy than to type a comment in a local blog. Jobie Steppe
The irony you guys are the most socialists left leaning group ever yet you are complaining about big government controlling things and that's exactly what your left agenda wants..... how ironic
I suspect most of the negative comments are by those who want to see the overdevelopment and ruination of Little Haiti with zero lot lines and wild overdevelopment as in what is happening to the neighborhoods in Coconut Grove. Good for Ken Russell as he struggles to go slow on this issue. Take a really good look at who’s pushing all this. And never forget that the City of Miami is a really big entity, with pockets of special interests all over. Pick your poison and live with it. Picture no Ken Russell. What’s left?
Miami politics are a bloodbath. Ken Russell is a good man, always well liked, and now I see him starting to be disparaged because he is not pleasing every single person. (Like Sarnoff before him.) Of course, it's the cowardly "anonymous" commenters who love to throw the most stones. I propose that ZERO anonymous comments be posted. They are worthless.
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