Echo and Support

Vol. 5, No. 9 11 September 2024

TWO PLACES AT ONCE

The Mayor is actively endorsing Mr. Guerra, one of the candidates for Group 2, the seat out of which [thanks, Mr. Churchill] Commissioner Liebman termed.   I met this candidate when he was out campaigning. Before then, he had not answered questions I sent him by email. He had offered to talk in person, but I wanted to know where he stood before any discussion. When he came to my door, I asked some of those same questions. I do not remember his answers, because they were not to the point.  He brought in other issues and, generally, I could  not follow his thinking.

     Some of the things I asked about were the changes to the original plans for the Winn-Dixie property.  The biggest disappointment for me is that the current Commission deleted the requirement that the store selling food be a “full-service grocery store.”  As far as I could gather, this candidate, a realtor,  did not see this as anything upsetting.

An affordable, full-service grocery store is where most of South Miami’s residents shop.  It is the kind of store they want.  Only the people with money to spare shop at Fresh Market. These people have transportation and time to go to a number of stores to get their supplies.  The everyday employees and retirees - those of us on fixed and not-particularly high incomes - really cannot afford to feed ourselves and families on the products offered at Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

The public plaza, that might have been a good gathering place, will not exist at the SoMi Market (Winn-Dixie) site.  That’s good for the owner who will have more square footage to rent out. It may be that the City of South Miami will see more taxes from this owner as a result.  But those potential new taxes are at the expense of open “park” space, at the expense of dead birds, and at the expense of fewer shade trees at that site.   [So much for “pleasant living"!]

What’s interesting to me is that the large glossy flyers sent by the Mayor’s candidate offer no specific details about projects he would  propose.  My suspicion is that Mr. Guerra will eagerly echo and support whatever the Mayor and Vice Mayor favor.  What may be different from the Commissioner he might replace is that he could be less nasty.

I do not believe that the Mayor and this candidate represent the interests of the majority of South Miami’s residents. Indeed, were

they truly interested in the opinions and concerns of the residents, I could have thought that they both would participate in the Public (Plusurbia) Open House* scheduled in the Commission Chambers on Thursday. However, they are planning to be present at a Meet and Greet at the same time in a different place.

* for more details on Plusurbia Open House (a meeting about placemaking, branding, and urban design) click here.

 

It may be that tall buildings along US 1 are inevitable.  What, also, may be inevitable is that potable water will run out and that the County will not be able to handle sewage.  As far as I can tell, those who support more and soon development are not bothered by the troubles climate change will bring.

[Get yours while the getting is good.   All the money in the world will not buy non-existent food.]

9/11

This day, an anniversary of one of the most traumatizing that ever happened to the United States of America, is almost at an end. Now, I worry that what this county has been will be destroyed by greed and lack of focused, dedicated team-work.

Keep safe, stay healthy!