Miami Today: Week of Thursday, February 15, 2018

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MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018

TODAY’S NEWS

The Insider DISCOMFORT ON THE DAIS: While discussing an $88.3 million contract for new furniture throughout county departments, Joe Martinez told fellow commissioners that they “wussed out” on an earlier contract to replace the chairs in the Miami-Dade commission chambers. “If you don’t put the cushions on, you fall through,” he said, holding up a chair cushion.

“One day we’re going to fall through and one day one of us is going to fall through,” he said. Internal Services Director Tara Smith told commissioners the contract would also be replacing the chairs for commissioners prior to them approving the furniture contract’s eight-year term. “We need new chairs,” said Commissioner Audrey Edmonson.

NEW CEO AT BAPTIST HEALTH: Baptist Hospital has announced that Patricia Rosello, R.N., is its new chief executive officer.

She was first a staff nurse at Pan American Hospital before working her way through management. In 1997 she joined Baptist and has been CEO of Baptist Outpatient Services since 2003, leading over 1,100 employees and 800 physicians. “Though there were several highly qualified executives considered to serve as my successor at Baptist Hospital, Patricia was a natural choice,” said Bo Boulenger, executive vice president and chief Patricia Rosello operating officer at Baptist health.

FORMAL PRESENTATION: While presenting his newly created Vilomah Award to commissioners for approval, county Commissioner Joe Martinez went to the public hearing podium to appeal to colleagues. “Looks like we have a public hearing here because someone is standing out there in the pit,” Commissioner Audrey Edmonson said, laughing.

“The item is so important to me that I’m asking your permission to do my opening from here,” Mr. Martinez said. “Do your spiel and then come back up here to move your item,” Ms. Edmonson said. Commissioners unanimously passed the Vilomah Award, to be given Joe Martinez to parents who lose a child and transform the pain into change in their communities.

WISHFUL THINKING: While opening the Chairman’s Policy Council meeting last week – which had only one action item – Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr. said he jinxed the meeting. “We have a short, non-controversial agenda today,” Mr. Bovo said, laughing. “I just have it the kiss of death,” he then said, poking fun at the historically long, combative meetings of Miami-Dade commissioners.

UNDERGOUND POWER LINES: Commissioner Bruno Barreiro continues steadfast on his mission to have Florida Power & Light underground all power lines in Miami-Dade. Following Hurricane Irma, commissioners cited overhead lines as the main reason some residents went weeks without power. While debating a potential contract with FPL to build renewable power resources throughout the county, Mr. Barreiro brought up power lines. “It has nothing to do with this, but every time one of their tentacles is here, I will remind FPL that they need to step up to the Bruno Barreiro plate to underground our power.”

AIRPORTS LEADERS TO FLY IN: The Miami-Dade Aviation Department is sponsoring the five-day Airport Council International – Latin AmericanCaribbean Conference in November, which is expected to host 500 aviation professionals from nations to the south. County commissioners are being asked to waive competitive bidding for goods and services for the event, for which the aviation department will provide staffing and $75,000 in promotional funds. The regional council has 60 members operating more than 260 airports in 33 nations. The aviation department is the only US airport that is a member of the regional group, a part of the Airports Council International.

POLICING SOUTH DADE: South Dade might get a new police district as well as a new police headquarters for the area. A resolution before a county committee this week would call for a fourth full police district in the southern part of the county by dividing the current South District, which now stretches across the county from east to west headed south from 200th Street to the county line. The southern part of the county is also served by the county’s Agricultural Patrol Section and the Kendall and Hammocks police districts. If passed, the resolution by commissioners Daniella Levine Cava and Dennis Moss would ask the mayor’s office to report within 120 days on the long-term police strategy for the southern end of the county and recommend on resizing the South District police operation.

KEEP US IN LOOP: Miami-Dade commissioners would have to be told about changes in transit fares or service adjustments at least 30 days in advance under a resolution by Daniella Levine Cava that a committee is to hear today (2/15). Her legislation notes that the mayor by code can set promotional fares, make seasonal service changes, enact experimental service and make any schedule or service change that doesn’t by law require a hearing, but asks that commissioners be kept in the loop at least 30 days in advance to address residents’ and visitors concerns. If the Transportation and Public Works Committee approves her measure, it would go before the full commission for a vote.

EXPANDING TRAFFIC CONTROLS: Miami Lakes plans to pay to upgrade six traffic signals in a 10-block stretch of Miami Lakes Drive to piggyback on a 300-signal county upgrade along 10 congestion management corridors. The town would pay for the upgrades and the county would link in those signals to the advanced traffic management tools such as adaptive traffic signal controls, traffic responsiveness and connected vehicle capabilities to improve mobility. The town would buy and install controllers, video detection systems and blue tooth traffic data collection devices between Northwest 77th and 87th avenues. The county’s Transportation and Public Works Committee is to vote on the tie-in today (2/15).

GAS GAUGE: Gasoline prices rose slightly in Miami last week as the national average price at the pump declined for the first time in 2018, price-tracking service GasBuddy reported after surveying 1,690 Miami-area filling stations.

The price here rose eight-tenths of a cent a gallon to average $2.66, while the national average fell 3.5 cents to $2.57. GasBuddy forecast a very short window of price declines, but indicated that the trend is still upward across the nation.

Miami Marine Stadium project has $9 million deficit, no plans for use

By John Charles Robbins

City of Miami officials are estimating a $9.2 million deficit for the project to restore Miami Marine Stadium and build the new maritime museum and welcoming center next door.

The city intends to renovate the stadium and make other improvements on Virginia Key using revenue bonds and other funds, and is working on a request for proposals to manage the stadium.

City commissioners got a status report on the stadium Feb. 8 from Assistant City Manager Alberto Parjus. Commissioners also got the latest report detailing projected resources and expenditures for the stadium and maritime center project.

In summary, the city projects about $50.4 million in available funds and $59.6 million in costs.

The only commissioner to voice alarm was Joe Carollo, who suggested no more taxpayer money be spent on the stadium.

Mr. Carollo questioned the logic of moving forward with restoring and reopening the stadium before having a plan for how it will be operated.

A former Miami mayor, Mr. Carollo said the stadium lost money even in its heyday.

The city government owns much of the barrier island, which is home to the iconic concrete stadium and historic basin.

The city closed the stadium in 1992 in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. Talk of restoring the facility was just that for years, until November 2016 when the city commission approved $45 million in bonding to borrow money to fund stadium renovation and other improvements.

The restoration became real in January 2017 when the commission hired R.J. Heisenbottle Architects for architectural and engineering services related to the stadium.

The city has already paid more than $1.4 million for designs.

“The project is well on its way,” Mr. Parjus told commissioners.

A separate report shows a proposed schedule for the stadium restoration and construction of the maritime center.

Design development for the stadium is to be completed by August, construction documents completed

by December, permitting completed

by June 2019, bidding and award completed by December 2019, and construction is to be finished

by November 2021.

Design criteria development for the maritime center is to be completed by April, permitting completed by June, bidding and award completed by December, construction documents completed

by August 2019, and construction to be finished by July 2020.

“My concern is that we’re rushing into something with no plan,” Mr. Carollo said. “Where’s the fiveyear plan [to bring in revenues]…

It always lost money – why are we rushing into something?”

The money being spent on the stadium could go toward affordable housing, Mr. Carollo said.

“We gave up the Olympia Theater because it lost money… My concern is that we’re creating another white elephant,” he said.

More than 50 stadium uses were listed, but none has been chosen.

‘Where’s the five-year plan [to bring in revenues]?... It always lost money. Why are we rushing into something?’

Joe Carollo Mr. Carollo said most city residents – 90% – will never set foot inside the stadium. “I would like to see a new outlook,” he said.

Mr. Parjus said the city has considered various uses for the stadium and flex park that surrounds it. He said city staff requested letters of interest and three “very large operators” said they see potential in the stadium property.

City officials have said the expectation is that a new operator for two city-owned marinas on the island, and redevelopment of those facilities, will bring in new revenue to help offset stadium costs.

Commissioner Ken Russell said he disagrees with Mr. Carollo.

“The last thing we’re doing is rushing,” he said, noting the decades of neglect that have chipped away at the stadium.

Mr. Russell said it was the will of the commission to move forward with restoration when it voted unanimously to approve the $45 million bond borrowing.

Mr. Carollo was not part of that decision, being elected in November 2017.

The latest report shows total projected available funds of $50,491,988. This amount represents $45 million borrowed through bonds, $3 million from Miami-Dade County general obligation bond borrowing, $1,411,988 in general funds, a $1 million state grant, and an $80,000 federal grant.

It lists total projected capital expenditures of $59,695,271. This amount represents $48,287,991 for Marine Stadium and $11,407,280 to build the new 22,000-square-foot maritime center.

Identified as “projected deficit or amount to be adjusted” is the figure $9,203,283.

Among the calculations of pro-

jected expenditures are contingency funds totaling $4,389,127.

“We can’t say that we won’t use contingency funds,” said Mr. Parjus, but the city could reduce projected costs by value engineering the project.

Mr. Carollo said money from the marinas will not be enough revenue to cover the gap in stadium costs, and again asked to see a plan for operating a restored stadium.

He suggested a referendum on the matter.

“Let’s put it out to a vote and let the residents decide. Most won’t set foot in there. We shouldn’t be stuck – the residents – paying another bill,” said Mr. Carollo.

Daniel Rotenberg, director of the city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management, addressed Mr. Carollo and spoke of the financial viability of Marine Stadium.

He said the city has five-, sevenand 10-year projections and has major event operators telling them “it’s going to be profitable.”

Mr. Carollo shot back, “Who says? What can you show us?

Since the status report on the stadium was only a discussion item on the agenda, no votes were taken.

The Heisenbottle firm has reported that a restored Marine Stadium could host Jet Ski competitions, beauty pageants and more. Richard J. Heisenbottle said his team and a dozen consultants assembled more than 50 potential uses for the waterfront stadium, thanks in large part to community input.

The report lists five categories of potential uses: marine; sports and fitness; community; education and nature; and entertainment.

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Phone: (305) 358-2663 Staff Writers:

Gabi Maspons gmaspons@miamitodaynews.com John Charles Robbins jrobbins@miamitodaynews.com Katya Maruri kmaruri@miamitodaynews.com Sara Marino smarino@miamitodaynews.com People Column people@miamitodaynews.com Michael Lewis mlewis@miamitodaynews.com

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MIAMI TODAY

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018

Miami Today is an independent voice of the community, published weekly at 2000 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 100, Miami, Florida 33133. Telephone (305) 358-2663

Don’t build more transit if county can’t build transit riders If Miami-Dade doesn’t start running transit more hours, more reliably and with growing rather than disappearing loads, talk of six new corridors should remain just that – talk.

Commissioners last week uncorked a new revenue stream, a transit tax district. State legislators also want to take taxes stolen from new transit and put the money back where it belongs. Commissioners too talk about a second transit sales tax to double receipts.

Those three could be major pieces of a puzzle to fund new transit. So could an as-yet-unknown public-private deal that would see the public later pay off up-front private investment. Other ideas float around to add new transit.

But why add any at all when riders are scrambling to get off what we have now? Not only are they exiting, but the departure rate is ever-faster.

Three years ago the system lost 3.8% of riders. The next year it lost 6.9%. Last year the loss was a staggering 9.6% – almost one of every ten riders.

Now comes a report for November, the most current out of the system, showing a plunge of 11.3% in riders from November 2016. That’s one rider out of nine bailing out.

And while 7.2% left Metrorail in November compared with November 2016, that’s the good news. 12.7% got off the bus. And Metromover, which

is absolutely free, lost 13.3% of riders from November 2016.

While this newspaper for decades has called for more mass transit, in a way it’s good as we watch use plunge that officials moved so slowly to add on, because the Smart plan to do that will only be smart if we can not only build it but get people to ride it.

So far, the Smart plan has targeted six corridors but mostly not locked in routes. The modes of transit – bus or train – are vague. No timetable to act exists. Agreements to proceed are nil.

And while we just got a tax district along the routes, the mayor correctly recommends that taxes not kick in until transit routes do.

If Smart plan transit were compared to a morning commute, we’d have gotten as far as waking up and are now rolling out of bed. We haven’t even brushed our teeth or had breakfast, much less left home.

It’s hard enough to pay for new transit without today’s fare box getting emptier and emptier. Crowded as the highways are, former transit riders find the frustrating and ever-slower drives preferable to a bus, train or even free Metromover.

If you can’t get transit veterans – many of whom ride free or at discounts – aboard, something is very wrong.

What’s wrong is clear: buses and rail cars are creaky and dirty; they don’t run often enough because so many are broken that we can’t get enough on the road; rude drivers don’t stick to schedules; absent drivers mean buses don’t come often enough; we don’t run 24 hours, seven days frequently enough to serve; and the system subsequently gets a rotten reputation.

That’s a damning indictment.

The good news is that we can fix it all if we have the will and the unity, because we can find money to repair everything that’s wrong – and enough to do the heavy sales job with the public to show the fixes and get riders back aboard.

It’s perfectly true that our present system is too skimpy to blanket the county.

Transit must go everywhere to multiply its impact – you can’t ride Metrorail or Metromover to most booming areas because they don’t go there, and buses alone won’t do the job. So we need the Smart plan.

But it’s only really smart if today’s core operations function fully and carry reasonable loads to link into the six new Smart legs. And that’s not happening.

Some solutions are on the way, with new Metrorail cars – too slowly – entering service as they’re built and tested, and new buses coming. Those will add to quality and reliability, as well as give us functional equipment to run more often.

But at least three more steps are vital: 1. We need a transit union contract that ends inordinate absences – more than 22% every day – and inordinate spending. The old contract has lapsed.

The new one will come before commissioners, who need courage to put public need ahead of votes and campaign contributions. Coming term limits should make that possible.

2. The county needs to spend enough now to run the system 24/7. People in Miami-Dade work, play and move around all hours. The more often and reliably transit runs, the more it’s used.

Fares won’t support most of that extra service – they never do, anywhere – so government must put up operating money now, even if it means putting aside less for future routes. Until use

builds up, don’t build up transit.

3. To make all of those steps impactful, the county must gin up an all-out campaign to promote transit use and get people to get back aboard what we have. A Fastrack Institute-created team that spent months studying transit innovation here looked at all sorts of high tech and found that the fastest way to get traffic flowing is to get people into mass transit and carpooling.

That use-transit campaign must be broad, deep and creative. It must range from advertising to motivational speakers, promotional gimmicks to premiums and prizes – anything to get fannies back into transit seats. Transit has to be not just necessary but also trendy. That campaign will only succeed if the gains it hypes are real and palpable.

We can debate all day which tax methods will best fund new lines that we all want. Getting that transit growth fast is vital.

But if we aren’t moving even faster to get people aboard what we have, the market for transit will dry up before much new can get rolling.

November saw 7 million total MiamiDade transit rides. In November 2007, when nobody was yet talking about road congestion, we had nearly 9.5 million.

So in 10 years we dumped 2.5 million monthly rides – about 40,000 persons daily – out of mass transit and onto roads as population also grew.

The Fastrack study was on target: the quickest way to cut road congestion is to get riders back onto transit. Some would return eventually if routes went more places. But far more would return right now if present routes ran more reliably and frequently.

We shouldn’t build transit if we can’t build transit riders.

Creating, and then dismembering, the nation’s social order Americans like to think we live in a classless society. I agree. All my life I’ve bumped into individuals with no class at all. Rude, ill-bred whelps, oozing offensiveness from every unwashed pore. You Bob Driver know the kind, I’m sure.

However, whether we like it or not, the rest of us are scattered into dozens of classes, categories and types. For example, in today’s economy we each belong either to the top 1% (who have financial assets greater than the net worth of Argentina), or the bottom 99%, who wander around in tattered confusion, muttering “Where did my money go?”

Then there are the social classes. The major groupings used to go like this: “Working” class, i.e., persons who earn money with their muscles and carry lunch buckets to work; the “white collar” class, who work in offices and view Facebook on their computers; and “the professional” class – doctors, lawyers and auto mechanics who earn $500 an hour and up. All other workers were divided into dozens of sub-categories such as nurses, long-distance truck driv-

ers and monkey-cage cleaners.

The symbol of social climbing was a ladder, or a greasy pole. This gave rise to sayings such as “Be nice to people on your way up, because you’ll meet them again on your way down.” Also, “The only thing wrong with reaching the top is that from that point there’s only one way to go.” These epigrams are credited to both Charlemagne and Pete Rose.

The chief goal of social climbers was to be (or appear) different or better than those around you. There are about 2,700 ways to do this. In the old days, the most common climbing techniques included getting rich, getting a better education, owning a big house and a Maserati, or joining a country club where you could eat in a noisy dining room while engaging in intellectual talk, i.e., real estate.

Some of those methods still work, but today’s ultimate social climbing device is to become “cool.” Once you’re accepted as being cool, the sky is your limit, at least for a short time.

The trouble is that the meaning of cool is always changing. What’s cool today can be regarded as lame tomorrow.

A similar glitch is that what raises your status in the eyes of some people will cause you to become a joke to others. Example: implanting a steel ball in your tongue, or having a dragon tattooed on your forearm. Either of those moves

can bring you new friends on the street, but you can say sayonara to your future as a stockbroker.

Over the years, social climbing and self-improvement have sometimes become entangled. Example: enlarging your vocabulary. In the 1950s, dozens of books offered to teach you bigger, better words such as “egregious” and “misanthropic.” The assumption was that if someone heard you use such terms, he would immediately hire you or ask you to marry his rich spinster aunt. Today, of course, anyone using a word more arcane than “awesome” will be shunned as a showoff and a freak.

Another status-raising fad was public speaking. Toastmasters and the Dale Carnegie courses promised, or implied, that if you could get up and express yourself smoothly before a group, your business and social future was assured.

I’m sure that often was the case. However, the flaw in that idea was that when your speech ended and you sat down, you were still Homer Hankins from Gulch, Oklahoma. Nothing had changed.

As you can see from all of the foregoing discussion, determining the class in which we belong can be confusing and inconclusive. Today, many ambitious men and women don’t climb ladders; they simply move sideways into new playing fields and situations. There

they succeed or fail because of their own efforts or, more likely, because of the invisible influence of time, fate, happenstance and dumb luck.

At the center of the effort to join another “better” class is the wish to alter one’s basic nature or origins. You can’t fault an oyster for wanting to smooth down the rough edges of its shell. But in the process the oyster may accidentally get rid of the piece of grit that, left alone, would turn into a pearl.

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018

Trade zone seeks funds nationally

By Sara Marino

Area should enter international trade: consultant Gary Goldfarb.

ter, the county and the 79th Street Corridor are also looking for other uses for the facility.

“We’re looking at a number of things, and we have a communitybased committee that’s comprised of public and private officials that are working hard to make this happen,” Mr. Butler said. “The key to this whole thing is to connect this underserved [area] to trade and logistics, which is one of the largest industries in Miami-Dade County, and to create really good jobs for people in that area.”

Within the next five years, Mr. Butler said, it’s projected that the trade zone will create 200,000300,000 direct jobs.

“We see this as a big catalyst for our economy,” he said.

Mr. Goldfarb said one of the company’s main goals is to not only create jobs in the area but train workers.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about linking theAfrican-American community with international trade,” he said. “That’s not something that’s happened much before.”

In terms of whom the investors will be, Mr. Butler is currently reaching out to the African-American community on a national scale.

“I think what the community needs is to stand together and say we’re going to move on and become part of international trade,” Mr. Goldfarb said.

Mr. Butler said he believes the foreign trade zone will have a positive effect on the community.

“This will change the image of the community,” Mr. Butler said, “from a negative image to a place where people can come and do business, and we expect that it will attract people from all over the world.”

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10 Florida companies seek air trade from 1,000-exhibit Singapore show

By Sara Marino

In the Northwest 79th Street Corridor, long considered less than a choice location, an initiative in its first phase aims to convert the area to a foreign trade zone.

The plan for phase one is to secure financing and land use in order to build the two warehouses that are 100,000 square feet each and sit on 28 acres.

“We are getting close,” said Ron Butler, executive director of the 79th Street Corridor. “We’re still in the early stage, but we’re moving forward.”

In addition to getting funding and land use, phase one also includes creating a space for frozen foods and chilled products, as well as office spaces and showrooms.

“The second phase would be creating a dry space warehouse, like you would normally find,” he said. “We’re going to be located at Poinciana Industrial Center [on 27th Avenue] off of 79th Street and we’re just going to work with the county to secure the land and also the capital we need to actually build the two phases of the warehouse distribution complex.”

According to Gary Goldfarb, the chief strategy office of Interport Consulting and the consultant for the project, the chilled portion is important because Miami-Dade County is a “perishable community.”

“That [the frozen portion] should be a very attractive product,” he said. “We’re doing that on the first phase because depending on which product takes off more positively, it will affect how we will set up the second phase.”

As of now, exact dates for when phase one and two should be completed are still being debated with the county and investors.

“We hope we can get everything secured by the end of the year,” Mr. Butler said.

Along with the distribution cen-

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The Singapore Air Show, Asia’s largest aerospace and defense exhibition, last week drew 10 participating companies from Florida.

“It’s a tremendous show if your company has a focus on aerospace,” said Manny Mencia, Coral Gables-based vice president of international trade and development for Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private economic development arm. “Like with the medical shows, companies from all over the world go to do business. Being that it’s in Singapore, it’s more Asiaintensive.”

Some of the major exhibitors at the show are airlines and air forces.

“We’ve been getting a good response from Florida companies,” Mr. Mencia said. “If you want to do business with Asian airlines or with air forces, what have you, it’s a show that you should always consider.”

From Feb. 6-11, the Singapore Air Show featured two Miamibased companies: TIC Aerospace Inc. and TurboPower LLC. The next Singapore Air Show will be in 2020. In 2016, when the show last was held, it hosted 1,040 exhibitors from 48 nations, with more than 48,000 visitor attendees. This year’s numbers, still being calculated, will

Singapore Air Show in 2016 drew 1,040 exhibitors from 48 nations.

be available in the next few weeks.

“The air shows we get between 10 to 15 companies that participate with Enterprise Florida,” Mr. Mencia said. “With the air shows you see the big aviation companies have kind of like a Super Bowl where they have big deals.”

Enterprise Florida’s aim was to bring smaller and mid-sized participants without having them pay a tremendous amount.

“A big company will set up a build structure right on the runway, with everything from the F35 to the latest Airbus 380, you name it, and they’ll fly for the buyers,” he said.

“My clients cannot afford that.Abig company will spend seven figures on

one air show, but obvious a momand-pop aviation company cannot afford that, so that’s our niche there.”

With Enterprise Florida, he said, companies get a comparable setting to what the bigger operations would have.

“We provide a cost-effective venue for small companies to provide an exhibit and to be able to get some of the benefits that the big companies get,” he said. “With the air shows, they come around every two years. If you’re in the aviation and aerospace export industry and you want to sell to the Middle Eastern market, you need to consider coming to the air shows and we have ways of making it more affordable.”

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25% of bus income lost via broken fare boxes, union says

By Gabi Maspons

With Miami-Dade struggling to find innovative ways to funnel money into its SMART plan to add rapid transit while also keeping up with daily operations, the Transportation Workers Union says the Transportation and Public Works Department is missing a significant revenue source. The union says declining transit revenues are misrepresented, claiming that up to a quarter of the county’s bus fleet operates with broken fare boxes on any given day, making rides free.

With a sharp decline in revenue last year, the county couldn’t meet the operational needs of transit covered by revenues and had to find other ways to fund transit or cut services.

While debating the budget late last year, residents pressured commissioners to keep operating transit at full capacity, pushing the county to dip further into People’s Transportation Plan money to support operations.

The PTP is a half-penny transportation surtax approved in 2002 for the Transportation and Public Works Department for major transportation improvement projects.

PTP collections have steadily increased in the past five years, with the most recent report from fiscal 2015-2016 bringing in $251.6 million, according to the surtax collection report.

Of the $251.6 million, only $75.8 million were directed toward capital reserve projects in the county, though the original tax was intended to exclusively fund expansions.

To amend the redistribution of money to operations, Commissioner Barbara Jordan in 2009 sponsored an amendment that required

10% of the money going to the transit department be dedicated to capital expansion of the transit system.

This year’s budget reduced the minimum 10% contribution to 5%, and is using the $5.5 million to support transit operations after the decline in revenues.

Tension between transit workers and county administration have been high over the past year, with Mayor Carlos Giménez saying absenteeism in the Transportation and Public Works Department is the highest in the county, accounting for long waits and poor service.

Last month, the department released numbers saying mechanical issues accounted for over 90% of late buses, while staff issues accounted for about 5%.

The transit union says that broken fare boxes, and not transit workers, account for a decline in revenues and poor service.

In November alone, bus operators reported 362 times that their fare boxes weren’t able to accept some or all forms of payment.

On 286 occasions, bus traffic control dispatchers told the bus operators to continue picking up passengers and give rides away free.

“We actually agree with them on protocol,” said Miami TWU Vice President Pete Flores. “We don’t want to inconvenience the passengers.”

Mr. Flores said that many times, if the fare box break occurs toward the beginning of their shifts, bus drivers will spend the entire day working without taking fares.

Mr. Flores said the county now does not

have a method for recording how many rides are unpaid when a fare box breaks, so there isn’t an entirely accurate estimate for revenues lost.

“I don’t think the county manages it well or cares about keeping track,” Mr. Flores said.

He estimates that the county has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue.

After “crunching numbers” about six months ago, the union said that about a quarter of the bus fleet is driving without a working fare box.

Of the 800 buses in the fleet, about 200 had a faulty fare box reported by the operator in November.

“Some instances aren’t even recorded because the bus traffic control won’t call back if it’s not an emergency,” Mr. Flores said, leaving buses with broken fare boxes in the garage without any maintenance once a driver’s shift is over.

Transportation and Public Works Director Alice Bravo was unavailable to comment on the protocol or verify the numbers presented by the union.

The county previously had a backup system to collect fares when the electronic fare box was broken, Mr. Flores said. “We would have a stainless steel box at the front of the bus, covered with tape. If the machine broke, then we could peel the tape off and passengers would deposit money.”

Now that the backup system has been removed, the county makes rides free when buses can’t process fares.

Mr. Flores said fare boxes break a variety of ways: they can get jammed with money,

lose power, or the machine that probes the user for information can lose connection.

Mechanics attribute the frozen and broken fare boxes to fault-prone equipment and bad planning on the part of the department, the union says.

Fare boxes are made up of three units manufactured by different companies and then cobbled together, the union says.

Though the union maintains that bus ridership is declining nationally, Mr. Flores said the numbers aren’t as dire as the county paints them to be, as many rides go unrecorded and unpaid.

“They use declining revenue to justify outsourcing some of our routes, but they are using faulty data,” Mr. Flores said.

“Our fare boxes aren’t collecting the data they need because we don’t have the right equipment.”

Mr. Flores said ridership numbers released by the transportation department are “misleading the commissioners” and driving the county to reduce the operations cost and make cuts to the department.

Though the union agrees the county should continue to provide free service when fare boxes aren’t operating fully, Mr. Flores said he hopes new buses will soon be introduced to reduce delays and make for a better experience for riders, without placing blame on drivers for poor service.

“They have been saying for three years that we are getting 300 buses and we have only gotten one,” Mr. Flores said. “We want the equipment needed to do our work and we need our buses replaced.”

Review team offers two-track route to commission raises

By Susan Danseyar

The Miami-Dade Charter Review Task Force voted Monday to recommend an independent salary panel to establish yearly salaries for county commissioners and the mayor.

County Commissioner Den-

nis Moss submitted the proposal to the task force for consideration as a way to avoid having the charter or the commission set salaries. Since the 1950s the charter has mandated that commissioners be paid $6,000 a year. In the draft report with its recommendations to the

commission, the task force also proposed increasing commissioners’ salaries from $6,000 to the amount set by state formula, currently $99,997.

Mr. Moss’s proposal would set up an independent panel of three people to meet yearly and establish the annual salary for

Development Industry Workshop Multimodal/Mobility Impact Fee The County has posted a scope of services, and is seeking industry comment, for a proposed Multimodal/Mobility Impact Fee Study. If evaluated and ultimately adopted by the Board of County Commissioners, this mobility fee would replace the current Road Impact Fee. Please attend this workshop to provide input. The proposed scope of services can be found at www.miamidade.gov/dpmww/futuresolicitations.aspx.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 9 to 11 a.m.

Stephen P. Clark Center Conference Rooms 18-3 & 18-4 111 NW 1st Street, Miami For additional information and to register your attendance, please contact Marlen Brant at mp1@miamidade.gov or 305-375-2886. Written comments on the scope of services can also be sent to mp1@miamidade.gov.

commissioners and the mayor.

The Clerk of Courts, the chief judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and the governor would each appoint one panel member.

The proposal states that “assuring potential candidates for the office of county commissioner and county mayor that their salaries will be set by an independent salary commission will encourage more members of the community to seek public office ensuring greater diversity in the composition of elected officials.”

The vote initially failed, but during subsequent discussion, task force member Carlos Diaz-Padron changed his mind.

Alfredo J. Gonzalez followed suit, bringing the approval to 6-2. Mr. Moss’s proposal will be included as an alternative alongside the draft report’s recommendation for commissioner salaries.

Alice Burch applauded Mr. Moss’s proposal, saying she didn’t have confidence specifying a particular amount or the state formula for commission salaries after voters have rejected raises so many times in the past.

“This just may work,” Ms. Burch said. “Let’s go for a creative idea like this because voters have gone against any number other than $6,000 seven times. We have a salary that’s so ancient and voters will see the huge difference. This takes it out of the realm of being such a huge change in an amount that the voter can’t afford. If we say ‘state formula,’ the voter can look it up and there will be sticker shock.”

Chair Robert Cuevas also spoke in favor of Mr. Moss’s proposal. “This is a longstand-

ing commissioner who thinks this may work,” he said. “I’m inclined to support someone with this kind of political experience. Maybe there’s some judgment he has that I don’t.”

With the addition of Mr. Moss’s proposal, the panel approved all other aspects of the draft report except for a recommendation to allow county employees to hold any elective office except county elective office without losing their county jobs. The panel voted to make a final decision on this recommendation at its final meeting, scheduled for Feb. 26.

In a move that appeared to surprise the panel, Mr. DiazPadron indicated that he would like to change his vote on this recommendation, prompting the delay. He also asked that those who spoke in support of it at previous meetings be notified of the upcoming discussion to give them a chance to be heard by the panel.

A review of the county’s charter, its equivalent of a constitution, is required at least every five years by the charter itself. Commissioners created the task force to recommend any changes to charter provisions.

The commission is to review the task force’s recommendations and decide which, if any, to place on the ballot for final action by voters.

At the close of the meeting, Mr. Cuevas thanked the administrative and legal staff for having done “a yeoman’s job” in not only drafting the report but assisting the panel in all other ways during the process. www.miamidade.gov/charter/task-force-2017.asp

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018

13

Commercial Office Space & Residential Real Estate Massive American Dream Mall under reviews microscope

By Sara Marino RETAIL

I-75 Miami Gardens Drive Interchange

ENTERTAINMENT HOTEL

Park & Ride

PARKING POTENTIAL LAKE SITE BOUNDARY

NW 186 ST (Miami Gardens Drive)

NW 97 AVE

NW 180 ST NW 102 AVE

The massive American Dream Mall project is currently a dream in the review process, with no set deadline on when it will move on to the next stage.

“Right now the reviewing agencies are still reviewing in their respective disciplines, and it’s moving forward through the standard zoning and comprehensive plan process,” said Nathan Kogon, assistant director for development services for Miami-Dade County.

Deadlines aren’t set for the project because it’s uncertain how long this stage will take.

“Really, what happens is we don’t set a timeline upfront,” Mr. Kogon said. “We go through the review, we continue to get all the comments from the reviewing agencies and we ask for additional documents, and then once all of the agencies have signed off on them, then we start scheduling the follow-up meetings.”

The American Dream Mall is to rise at the intersection of Interstate 75, Florida’s Turnpike Extension and Miami Gardens Drive. The megamall is expected to be larger than 5 million square feet and is forecast to have retail, entertainment and dining options.

Parts of the projects currently being reviewed include things such as the effects of the water, sewer, canals, environmental factors, and the roadways in nearby areas.

“We’re basically looking to identify all of the impacts that the project would have and then make sure we have identified

NW 178 ST (Not Open)

N

American Dream Mall is to be at I-95, Florida’s Turnpike Extension and Miami Gardens Drive. It’s to exceed 5 million square feet, plans say.

what the mitigation measures are,” said Jerry Bell, MiamiDade assistant planning director. “That’s really what we’re working on now.”

The review process is important because it ensures that the proper steps are taken.

“Obviously, the scope is larger so the details increase,” Mr. Kogon said. “But really this is

just a standard type of review.”

While the private sector focuses on the effect a certain store will have, Mr. Kogon and Mr. Bell’s focus with this project is to calculate impact analysis.

“When we look at the impacts, we look at how much retail they’re going to have and how much land use they’re going to have,” Mr. Kogon said. “We

calculate that, but we don’t look at the nature of the store.”

At the end of the process, there will be a specific developmental schedule, but exact dates are still being calculated.

“With a lot of these large developments, you’ll see you have ‘x’ amount of square feet of this particular part, and if they want to change that development

schedule, they’ll have to go back to a public hearing, or in some cases you can shift the general calculations.” Mr. Kogon said.

The exact date the mall will open to the public is still to be determined.

“It’s such a unique facility, I have no clue” when it would be finished, Mr. Kogon said. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Plaza Coral Gables deals with permits, neighbors’ concerns

By Katya Maruri

The Plaza Coral Gables, formerly known as the Mediterranean Village, is still in the process of reviewing permits along with neighborhood concerns before moving forward with any further construction, according to city Planning and Zoning Director Ramon Trias.

The mixed-use project, which is set to rise at 2801, 2901 and 3001 Ponce de Leon Blvd., just south of downtown Coral Gables, will stand at 190 feet tall and have one level of retail along with a hotel component in the rear of the complex, creating an open pedestrian space in front of it, Mr. Trias previously told Miami Today.

“Right now we are doing the foundation work that is necessary to move forward,” Mr. Trias said.

“We have started construction on one half of the project, but we are still in the permit reviewing process for the other half.”

“As of right now,” he said, “we can’t predict when the permitting Plaza Coral Gables, formerly Mediterranean Village, has hotel, retail and residences in 2015 rendering. process will finish.”

“We are also taking care to deal with any neighborhood concerns,” he said, such as landscape and other aesthetic related concerns.

As for what the new development will include, he said, the hotel will have 220 rooms, 16,000 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000-square-foot casual restaurant and a 30,000-square-foot quality restaurant, along with a gym and movie theater.

The residential component will be comprised of 136 rental apartments and 15 townhouses, along with 473,000 square feet of office space.

As for parking, Agave Ponce, the developer, plans to keep a planned 2,408-space garage within the building, with parking to be shared (during different hours) by the commercial and the residential users.

Delivery of the mixed-use project is anticipated for 2020 or 2021, according to the developer.

“This is a very big project,” Mr. Trias told Miami Today, “and it’s going to take some time to get everything up and running.”

TODAY’S NEWS

WEEK OF THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018

MIAMI TODAY

21

Miami votes to fight for slice of profits from Marlins sale

By John Charles Robbins

City of Miami leaders are calling foul after being told by the former owner of the Miami Marlins baseball team that he doesn’t owe the city a cent.

Marlins ballpark was built on city-owned land in Little Havana, the footprint of the former Orange Bowl, as part of a sweet deal from the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County negotiated a decade ago.

“None of us were here when the deal was approved, yet here we are today trying to pick up the pieces of a bad deal,” said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

Former team owner Jeffrey Loria has notified the city and county he has no intention of sharing any of the proceeds from the $1.2 billion sale of the team last fall to Derek Jeter and his partners.

Mayor Suarez wants to go after Mr. Loria.

At the city commission meeting Feb. 8, commissioners approved the mayor’s request to fight for part of the bounty Mr. Loria will receive.

Mr. Loria had purchased the team for about $158 million.

Mr. Suarez suggested the city manager, city attorney and city auditor pore over a package the city recently received from Mr.

Loria regarding the sale.

“If they determine we have a claim, they should be able to act [to get what the city is owed],” said Mr. Suarez.

Commissioner Ken Russell said Mr. Loria’s latest action is “one last kick in the teeth on his way out the door … and we should not stand for it.”

Commissioner Joe Carollo said, “I’m happy to hear us talk tough. I just hope we land a punch. This was probably the worst deal ever.”

Mr. Carollo noted the city has a new mayor and new city manager, along with two new commissioners, and he suggested the administration look into the details of the agreement

that allowed such a large amount of city-owned property to be devoted to the ballpark and to the four parking garages that hug the stadium.

“There’s a tremendous amount of land in the front and back,” said Mr. Carollo, reminding colleagues that the city is searching for a site to construct a new administration building and for land for affordable housing.

He noted the stack of restrictions from the Marlins built into the agreement, and said that’s the reason David Beckham’s group couldn’t build a soccer stadium next door.

“The Marlins are in control,” said Mr. Carollo. “This is the worst deal ever. A total sellout of the citizens.”

After years of complaint, airport hotel handoff near Miami-Dade County is coming nearer to a deal with a top-level firm to manage its MIA Hotel at Miami International Airport, ending a decade-plus battle to replace operators who had drawn severe and intense criticism from a succession of county aviation directors.

Today (2/15), a county committee is to vote on awarding a management agreement for its aging hotel at the midpoint of its semicircle of concourses to 11-year-old MRC Investors LLC, which the county says currently manages 82 hotels in 21 states and has generated more than $1 billion in revenues in the past five years.

The agreement, said Deputy Mayor Jack Osterholt in a document to commissioners, would generate an estimated annual gross of $14.5 million, with a net return to the county’s Aviation Department of about $5.5 million.

MCR would receive a two-part management fee: a base of 2.5% based on net sales and an incentive of 2.2% based on net operating income.

MCR, headquartered at One World Trade Center in New York, would have the management contract for seven years plus three oneyear renewal periods.

Commissioners, as have aviation directors, have long wanted a change in management. In a 2013 discussion of the hotel, Commissioner Audrey Edmonson showed her frustration, saying, “I guess after this director leaves us and another one comes in, because they’re new, that this just goes on and on and on. Meanwhile, the same vendor stays.”

In this case, however, there is no aviation director – Emilio González left the role last year and recently became Miami’s city manager.

Whoever replaces him might find the hotel problem solved with a MCR at the controls of the hotel.

The independent hotel with

check-in at the departure level on Concourse E for now is being operated by long-time manager Hotels International Development until another operator takes over.

The Aviation Department received contract qualification statements in response to a February 2017 request for proposals from Crescent Hotel Management Services LLC, Driftwood Hospitality Management II LLC, Hostmark Investors Limited Partnership, Yotel Management Company Ltd. and MCR. An Evaluation/Selection Committee recommended negotiations with the highest ranked responsible firm, which was MCR, with 4,625 evaluation points. Driftwood received 4,477 points, Crescent 3,857, Hostmark 3,754 and Yotel 2,301.

Though commissioners and aviation directors had been displeased with Tampa-based Hotels International Development many times over the years and have sought to find a national operator, firms responding to earlier waves of bidding had been rejected for various reasons, usually lack of qualifications.

Minimum qualifications this goround included that the firms have five consecutive years operating a full-service hotel within the past 10 years in each category of managing, operating and maintaining a minimum of 250 rooms at one single location. The scope of services asked that the qualified firm manage the 259-room, seven-suite hotel and related amenities.

The management agreement that the county would sign with MCR states that the eighth floor of the hotel “is currently under design consideration for a business center and fitness center. The eighth floor may or may not be refurbished during the life of this agreement.”

The MIA Hotel is on county property so it pays no property taxes.

The new Brightline trains are to reach Miami once the MiamiCentral station can handle the traffic flow.

Brightline, city meet on rail safety

By John Charles Robbins

A steady flow of passenger trains will be returning to downtown Miami soon and city officials are concerned about public safety.

The higher-speed private rail service Brightline launched one month ago with trips between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

The train, which is rolling up to 79 mph, is expected to begin its link to Miami in the early months of this year.

Since its January start, four people have been hit by a Brightline train, resulting in two deaths.

In each case the pedestrians went around barricades, according to authorities.

On Feb. 8, Miami city commissioners discussed concerns, particularly that the brand new train travels much faster than older, conventional trains.

Commissioner Manolo Reyes brought up the topic, suggesting an aggressive public education campaign to convince pedestrians and motorists not to try to beat the train at a crossing.

Mr. Reyes said he’d like the city’s public information department to work on a campaign warning how dangerous the trains can be and put the word out on the city’s government TV channel “to make people aware: don’t try to beat it.”

Commissioner Joe Carollo said, “You can’t educate some people … those who play fast and loose.”

He said the city will have to spend money to install chain-link fencing on both sides of the tracks within the city limits to keep pedestrians away from the new trains and push for a heavy, immovable blockade at street crossings so motor vehicles “can’t come through.”

Operators of the county’s airport hotel have been intensely criticized. “[Otherwise] we’ll have a lot of

people dying,” Mr. Carollo said.

The city manager’s office reported a sit-down meeting this week between city employees from the police and fire departments, transportation and public works with representatives of Brightline, its parent company, Tri-Rail and others to discuss public education and outreach on rail safety.

“Safety is our top priority,” Brightline’s Michael Lefevre told commissioners.

For more than a year, Brightline has reached out in its communities regarding rail safety, he said.

Coinciding with its official launch, Brightline announced it was expanding its outreach to raise awareness about rail safety. The company is continuing to partner with Tri-Rail, the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, the Broward Metropolitan Planning Agency, local law enforcement, and cities and counties along the corridor.

“Increasing awareness about rail safety is of critical importance, which is why we continue working with our transportation partners to help spread the word,” said Patrick Goddard, Brightline’s new COO and president.

“For the past year, we have been engaged in the communities along the corridor, and we will continue these outreach efforts. We implore the public to be patient and not circumvent the safety devices in place to keep you safe. Your life is worth more than waiting a few extra seconds for a train to pass,” he said.

As part of its expanded outreach plan begun in early 2017, Brightline will continue working with Operation Lifesaver to create an additional public service announcement campaign, including materials in English, Spanish and Creole; installing additional signs

that warn motorists and pedestrians to stay off the tracks at grade crossings along the corridor; activating safety ambassadors; and attending community events and passing out rail safety information.

For the past year, Brightline has partnered with Operation Lifesaver, developing a rail safety campaign and volunteering at community events.

About 40 Brightline employees are trained Operation Lifesaver volunteers and attend community events to teach their neighbors how and why it’s important to stay safe.

Prior to Brightline beginning operations and during the start of service, the company ran announcements on broadcast outlets in South Florida markets to ensure the public is aware of the laws that keep them safe, like waiting for the gate arms to return to the upright position before traversing a grade crossing after a train passes.

All public at-grade railroad crossings along the FEC Railway corridor in Brightline’s operating route have comprehensive safety infrastructure in place, including gates, constant warning time (predictor systems), bells, flashing red lights and signage, the company said.

According to Operation Lifesaver, 95% of all rail-related deaths involve drivers going through a crossing or a person on the tracks.

The distinctive and colorful Brightline trains are to begin daily trips through the City of Miami once the MiamiCentral station is complete enough to accept trains and passengers downtown.

The complete project is intended to connect Miami and South Florida to Orlando.

Details: www.gobrightline.com

24

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