Miami Today: Week of Thursday, June 7, 2018

WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

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TIBOR HOLLO WINS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, SIX OTHERS WIN GOLD MEDAL HONORS, PG. 14 FPL CUSTOMER BREAKS: FPL customers will get slight bill reductions this summer due to the federal tax overhaul. However, regulators put off a decision until August about a one-time refund that customers would receive, in part, because of an “over-recovery” of storm-restoration costs after Hurricane Matthew in 2016. The Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday gave intervening groups until June 28 to file briefs on the $27.7 million refund proposal. The commission approved reductions tied to FPL’s benefits from the federal tax overhaul that lowered corporations’ federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours a month will see bills dip 59 cents in July because of FPL’s tax savings. In September, customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours a month will see bills dip 2 cents in a pipeline-related issue.

The Achiever

By Katherine Lewin

VENEZUELA’S FOOTHOLD: The government of Venezuela is still paying rent on the fourth floor of 1101 Brickell Ave. It has been paying monthly on the 10-year lease since at least 2012. The 7,940-square-foot space has been vacant since Jan. 16, 2012, after the late President Hugo Chavez withdrew consular personnel from Miami following the expulsion of Miami Consul General Livia Acosta Noguera. An FBI investigation showed that Ms. Noguera was involved in a cyber-attack against the US. At first, the Venezuelan government refused to pay rent for the space but later continued payments after the president of Florida East Coast Realty, Tibor Hollo, threatened to sue. According to a representative of Florida East Coast Realty, the Venezuelan government is currently “not in breach of their lease.”

CONSTRUCTION STARTS INCH UP: The value of April construction starts in South Florida inched up 2% in April from April 2017, a new report shows, but that masks a vast disparity between a 58% gain in residential starts and a 42% drop in the value of all other construction starts. The report by Dodge Data & Analytics also showed that total construction starts in MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties for the first four months of the year rose 37%, with residential start values up 60% and nonresidential up 14%.

DETERMINING THE VALUE: At the request of the city’s Department of Real Estate and Asset Management, Miami commissioners have added two vendors to the pre-qualified pool to provide general appraisal services for the department. The two are The Urban Group Inc. and Real Estate Analysts LLC. The resolution also authorizes the city manager to make a professional services agreement with each vendor for an initial two years with an option to renew for three more one-year periods. Total fiscal impact is calculated at $375,000 over the five-year potential term.

Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Photo by Cristina Sullivan

Lieutenant Governor seeks more regional coordination The profile is on Page 4

River commission wants say on Brickell Bridge

By John Charles Robbins

Miami River Commission members are fuming about being left out of action that impacts Brickell Avenue Bridge openings.

Frustration bubbled up at Monday’s meeting when Chairman Horacio Stuart Aguirre spoke of learning – after the fact – of a formal request to the Coast Guard to alter schedules to keep the bridge locked down and open to street traffic during peak hours.

The Coast Guard is in charge of the bridge operation, as the Miami River is a federal navigable channel.

The letter went to the Coast Guard from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), apparently on the heels of some stakeholders approving the request. But Mr. Aguirre said any implication that there’s a consensus on bridge operations is false.

“The Miami River Commission in not onboard [with this latest action],” Mr. Aguirre said.

“The Miami River Commission has not heard this matter recently [and we’ve] not reached a consensus.”

Mr. Aguirre said he and Brett Bibeau, com-

Amazon’s major hub nearly done

mission managing director, attended a meeting this year of those interested in bridge operations hosted by the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and attended by representatives of the state transportation department, Coast Guard and others.

Mr.Aguirre said the 45-minute meeting ended with the parties amicably agreeing to meet again and the Coast Guard indicating it was open to options.

But the second meeting never came, said Mr. Aguirre, who then learned of the letter to the Coast Guard.

Forcefully, Mr.Aguirre said: “We did not – we did not agree to anything.”

Without objection from commission members, Mr. Aguirre said the bridge operation will get a full public airing next month.

“We will put this on the agenda for July, and I will invite all the parties… and everyone can present their point of view,” he said. “We will have a full-blown hearing.” The meeting will be July 9.

The Miami River Marine Group, DDA, Coast Guard, FDOT “and any other stakeholder” will be invited, Mr. Aguirre said. He stressed the

need to get a transportation department official there to discuss current traffic flow on the bridge.

“As of today, 66% of the travel lanes are closed. This needs to be discussed,” he said.

The DDA has long sought solutions for Brickell-to-downtown gridlock and waged battle with the Coast Guard, state transportation department and the river commission over what it says are improper openings of the bridge that bring traffic to a standstill downtown and in surrounding areas.

When the bridge is up, road traffic snarls and downtown and Brickell businesses are impacted.

When the bridge is down and ships await a scheduled opening, it impacts the marine industry.

The river commission has recommended more than a dozen ways to ease conflict surrounding bridge openings, including opening all three lanes to motor vehicles, installing pedestrian gates and employing “white glove” security officers to reduce long openings when pedestrians continue to cross the bridge after warning signals, real-time signage on bridge approaches telling motorists to take a different route, and more.

The river commission also supports boring a tunnel under the river.

Construction of the 855,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center at the Carrie Meek International Business Park is nearing completion.

The Amazon center is the first of three phases. The second is a 280,000-square-foot industrial building. The final phase is a 5,000-square-foot headquarters for the Carrie Meek Foundation. The project will total more than 1 million square feet. All the buildings will be open for operations in August, said Ford Gibson, a managing director at Foundry Commercial.

Construction of the industrial building is about done and the Carrie Meek Foundation headquarters construction will be done by month’s end, Mr. Gibson said.

Prospective tenants are lined up for the industrial space and Foundry Commercial is following up with them, Mr. Gibson said. Rent is projected at about $7.25 per square foot, roughly $2 million a year.

Amazon is still working with vendors to prepare the building for operations after the initial construction by Foundry. The internal work is extensive because of how automated Amazon’s system is, Mr. Gibson said.

The joint venture between the Carrie Meek Foundation, which targets affordable housing, healthcare and education for Miami-Dade, and Foundry is considered one of the largest private industrial developments and the largest single job creation project in Miami-Dade County history.

The business park, on 97 county-owned acres near Curtiss Street and Northwest 42nd Avenue, is being leased to the foundation and Foundry on a long-term ground lease.

“The profits and losses from the CCRE Meek LLC joint venture are distributed on the basis of 70% to Foundry and 30% to the Meek Foundation,” said Tony E. Crapp Sr., foundation executive director.

“The development lease assigned to the joint-venture has a development period for the construction of improvements of 8½ years, followed by a 55-year lease term.”

KEY BISCAYNE DROPS A SUIT AGAINST MIAMI, BOTH WIN ...

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TRANSIT TEAM SEEKS RAIL STATION SITES IN NORTHEAST ...

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MEETING MIGHT PUT WATSON ISLAND LEASE ON BALLOT ...

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TARGETED TRAFFIC SIGNALS UPGRADED BUT NOT ON LINE ...

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VIEWPOINT: PAST TIME TO GET TRANSIT LINES ROLLING ...

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COUNTY LOOKS TO UBER IN HALTING TRANSIT OUTFLOW ...

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GETTING TO THE ROOT OF MIAMI-DADE’S TRANSIT EXITS ...

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BRAZILIAN VISITORS HERE REBOUNDING AFTER BIG DROP ...

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MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018

TODAY’S NEWS

The Insider FRUIT FLY DANGER RETURNS: Eradication efforts have started after three Oriental fruit flies were discovered in southern Miami-Dade County, State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Tuesday. The fruit flies, which were last found in Florida in 2015, endanger farming because they attack 400 different fruits, vegetables and nuts. “We successfully eradicated this invasive pest, protecting Florida’s $120 billion agriculture industry, three years ago, and together with the US Department of Agriculture we’ll implement an aggressive eradication program to do so again,” Mr. Putnam said in a prepared statement. Eradication involves attracting male fruit flies to bait. The males die when they feed on the bait.

EDUCATION ACCELERATOR: For a second year, the Braman Family Foundation has committed $1 million in scholarships to help 500 Miami Dade College Students and 500 Florida International University students accelerate completion of their educations. The students will be selected this fall to get the scholarships as an incentive to enroll fulltime during their last year.

MIAMI MAYOR CHOSEN: City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has been appointed Chair of the US Conference of Mayors Environmental Committee. “I am honored to have been named Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Environment Committee by President and Columbia, SC, Mayor Steve Benjamin,” said Mayor Suarez. “I look forward to using this incredible opportunity to lead on an issue that profoundly impacts our future.

We will collaborate to harness our resources and find innovative methods to safeguard our precious environment.” In announcing the appointment, the organization Francis Suarez expressed its appreciation for Mr. Suarez’s early and active engagement with the US Conference of Mayors. Mr. Suarez has been an advocate on issues relating to the environment and has participated in panels focused on protecting natural assets and achieving resiliency, according to the organization.

CHILE MISSION’S IMPACT: Five small to mid-sized Florida businesses generated more than $12.6 million in total sales at the FIDAE Air Show in Santiago, Chile. Enterprise Florida led the sales mission to South America in the first week of April. According to Enterprise, about 500 Florida companies excel in all aspects of the aerospace industry. The 2018 show attracted 580 exhibitors from 46 nations. “The FIDAE show was another great opportunity for Florida businesses to exhibit their innovative products and services to a global market,” said Manny Mencia, senior vice Manny Mencia president of international trade and development for Enterprise Florida, in a statement. “The aerospace sector continues to be a strong one for Florida companies and this show provided unmatched access to companies in the Latin American market.”

ODOR-REACTING IN DORAL: Unpleasant odors permeating a Doral waste-to-energy facility prompted a seven-point study to determine how to best to address the problem. In August 2017, the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management and Corvanta, the facility operator, agreed to haul unders, an especially smelly residue originating from waste processing at the facility, to the Okeechobee County landfill. Following a facility walk-through, personnel interviews, meetings with chemical consultants, a survey of odor control equipment, evaluations of chemical and equipment improvement, analyses of potential and ongoing odor abatement and field testing using waste process air samples, the study recommended adding floor-to-ceiling odor control systems in several areas that will also receive dedicated blower units, aerosol nozzles and odor product supply pumps and tubing. The total cost: $60,000 in equipment and $55,000 in annual maintenance.

HEALTHY LITTLE HAVANA: With the goal of improving public health, Miami city commissioners accepted $25,000 from the Heath Foundation of South Florida for the Live Healthy Little Havana Project, for the year ending Aug. 31. The money is from the foundation’s Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge Interim Award for Excellence in the practice of community engagement. The Little Havana project earned the grant for having demonstrated a great commitment to the goals of The Challenge by creating healthier, equitable communities through innovative engagement and partnerships in Little Havana. The funds will increase physical activity through programs and the built environment in Little Havana.

GETTING READY FOR PESTS: The City of Miami is asking residents to keep mosquito safety in mind as city workers take measures to limit mosquito breeding in the upcoming warm and rainy months. “We are taking every precaution as part of our Safe City Initiative, to educate residents and limit the mosquito population in the months ahead,” said City Manager Emilio Gonzalez. Residents are asked to help by draining standing water, covering receptacles that collect water, and using repellents to guard against mosquito bites. City Code Compliance, Solid Waste, and N.E.T. offices will be educating resi- Emilio Gonzalez dents and business owners about conditions that lead to mosquito breeding, coordinating waste haulers, and addressing illegal dumping; Homeless Assistance will distribute insect repellent towelettes and sprays; Public Works will do larvicide treatments in open drains and inspect roadway construction sites, open trenches and storage bins; Parks and Recreation will identify potential mosquito breeding locations and addressing concerns.

BOATING ACCIDENTS UP: Florida recorded 766 boating accidents in 2017, up 7.3% from 2016, while 67 boating-related deaths matched the total from 2016, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. People falling overboard has been the leading type of fatal accident for the past 15 years, according to the report. Drowning is the leading cause of death – and “81% of these victims were not wearing a life jacket.”

CORRECTION: In last week’s issue, the name of Rachel Camber, of counsel with Markowitz Ringel Trusty + Hartog, was misspelled.

Key Biscayne drops suit vs. Miami with both sides able to cite victories

By John Charles Robbins

A 3-year-old lawsuit between the Village of Key Biscayne and the City of Miami about uses on Virginia Key is history.

On May 11, an attorney for Key Biscayne filed in circuit court a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal without Prejudice in the case of Village of Key Biscayne vs. City of Miami and the National Marine Manufacturer’s Association Inc. The dismissal of the lingering litigation has left players on both sides claiming success.

The prolonged legal fight between Key Biscayne, City of Miami, Miami-Dade County and the manufacturer’s association was triggered in 2015 when the city announced a license agreement with the association to host the Miami International Boat Show at city-owned Marine Stadium Park on Virginia Key. Miami Commissioner Manolo Reyes mentioned the dismissal at the city commission’s last meeting May 24.

Key Biscayne Mayor Mayra Peña Lindsay confirmed the dismissal to Miami Today on Tuesday, and discussed what village officials believe are the many benefits spawned by the legal fight.

The main catalyst for the dismissal is a recent settlement between the village and manufacturer’s association that basically guides how traffic and parking will be managed during the annual February boat show, according to Ms. Lindsay.

The waterfront stadium has remained closed since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, but the city agreed to sink millions into a so-called flex park surrounding it. The improvements were part of the city’s deal with the association to host the boat show, but city officials talked of other potential events on the improved space.

The city was also in early stages of launching a restoration of the stadium.

The main concern of Key Biscayne officials and residents was that increased use of the site would further clog the already-congested Rickenbacker Causeway, the only road to Key Biscayne.

Side issues surfaced as well, including potential adverse impact on the environment and damage to the island, along with concerns about the island becoming too commercialized.

It appeared the warring municipalities had called a truce in April, as the Miami City Commission prepared for a vote on April 12 approving a 15-page proposed settlement.

But a tie vote doomed the deal.

Commissioner Ken Russell said he’d worked on the proposed settlement for more than a year and believed it to be fair for all parties.

But the two newest commissioners, Mr. Reyes and Joe Carollo, both elected in November, weren’t buying it.

The proposed settlement basically limited the size and frequency of events at Marine Stadium and the basin it fronts.

Mr. Reyes said he saw the settlement as limiting the city’s authority on the island – the city’s

‘I feel comfortable that the current administration is concerned about doing the right thing for its residents, and working well with its neighbors.’

Mayra Peña Lindsay sovereignty. Mr. Carollo agreed.

“We as a city should not set that precedent,” Mr. Reyes said at the April 12 meeting. He then asked the assistant city attorney, “Do we have a good case?”

The attorney said that without going into details, the City Attorney’s Office was optimistic about winning the case.

Mr. Reyes said he didn’t want anyone to “dictate” to the city.

One commissioner was absent when it came time to vote. A motion to defer the matter failed on a 2-to-2 vote, and a motion to approve the settlement failed on a 2-to-2 vote.

In the meantime, the village was working on a settlement with the manufacturer’s association to help govern the traffic management, said Ms. Lindsay.

At the city commission’s May 24 meeting, Mr. Reyes said he wanted to thank City Attorney Victoria Mendez and her staff for obtaining a final decision in the lawsuit with Key Biscayne.

He said he was happy that the suit was over, “and we didn’t relinquish our sovereignty.”

Mr. Reyes said that should serve as a message to others considering legal action against the city “that we are going to fight.”

Ms. Lindsay said she believes the lawsuit led to protections and benefits to village residents, and resulted in commitments from the city, county and manufacturer’s association for a solid traffic management plan that emphasizes public transit use to and from the venue.

As a result of the lawsuit, she said, there has been tremendous awareness that Virginia Key is in fact a large public park, filled with deed restrictions, and should be “Central Park” for all residents of Miami-Dade County, as promised by former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado and documented in the 2010 Virginia Key Master Plan.

Ms. Lindsay said the village’s lawsuit also led the city to create the Virginia Key Advisory Board, which has been very active.

The legal challenge also forced a change in policy for temporary marinas on the island, requiring that foam products and devices must be encapsulated foam, she

said, to avoid the pollution from foam breaking apart. She called it a very important step to protect the environment.

The lawsuit also led to a responsible plan for sea trials of boats for sale during the boat show, ensuring safe operation in the basin and Biscayne Bay, Ms. Lindsay said.

The settlement with the association includes a commitment to a traffic management plan that employs public transit and reemphasizes the use of water taxis, and limits the amount of parking on the island. It also tweaks some practices that caused headaches during the 2018 boat show, she said, like no longer having Uber and ride sharing services queue up by parking near the Miami Seaquarium.

The voluntary dismissal is without prejudice, basically meaning the village could sue again under certain circumstances.

“We essentially kept our ammo dry, and if needed again – and if it’s the responsible thing to do –we could bring suit again. It’s always an option,” she said.

In reaction to Mr. Reyes’ comments on the end of the lawsuit, Ms. Lindsay said, “I don’t buy the sovereignty argument.”

However, the village mayor said she’s hopeful a new City of Miami administration will be more responsive to the village, and more inclusive. The city has a new mayor and city manager.

“As to our issues with the city, that property is a public park owned by the residents of the city and county, and held in trust by the City of Miami. With the new city administration, it’s a different climate and a new attitude to be more responsible to the residents,” Ms. Lindsay said.

So although there was no 15page settlement approved between the city and village, Ms. Lindsay said she is hopeful the village can play a part in the evolution of the island.

“I feel comfortable that the current administration is concerned about doing the right thing for its residents, and working well with its neighbors,” she said.

Ultimately, Ms. Lindsay said, she believes the village and city can be good neighbors.

A Singular Voice in an Evolving City

Phone: (305) 358-2663 Staff Writers:

John Charles Robbins jrobbins@miamitodaynews.com Katya Maruri kmaruri@miamitodaynews.com Jesse Scheckner jscheckner@miamitodaynews.com People Column people@miamitodaynews.com Michael Lewis mlewis@miamitodaynews.com

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018

MIAMI TODAY

TODAY’S NEWS

Public Notice NOTICE IS GIVEN that meetings will be held before the following Committees on the dates stipulated below in the Commission Chambers, located on the Second Floor, of the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First Street, Miami, Florida, wherein, among other matters to be considered, a public hearing will be held relating to the following proposed ordinances/ resolution:

The hotel on the island would be limited to 300 rooms, 130-foot height.

Special city meeting may put island lease on ballot

By John Charles Robbins

Miami city commissioners will be playing a version of Beat the Clock on June 8 when they hold a special meeting to get a property lease before voters on the August primary election ballot.

It involves Jungle Island and plan to build a hotel as part of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the animal theme park on city-owned Watson Island.

The special meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. at City Hall.

City officials have until the close of business that day to file with the county elections department a formal ballot proposal request to make the August ballot.

The city leases the land at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail to ESJ JI Leasehold LLC. The hotel and lease extension require the approval of voters at referendum.

A similar plan discussed last year was deferred in July to afford ESJ more time for community outreach, which the company says has now been accomplished.

A lease extension would mean more revenue to the city, contributions from ESJ to an adjacent park for improvements and money for low-income housing, and the promise of hundreds of new jobs.

At the request of Miami Today, a representative of ESJ provided this proposed wording of the ballot proposal: “Shall Miami’s Charter be amended extending Jungle Island’s Lease for an additional 39-years, plus 15year option, by waiving competitive bidding and allowing construction of a privately funded hotel and attractions with a maximum 130-foot height in exchange for: ■Additional annual rent for the hotel of $250,000.00 increasing to $1,150,000.00 or 5.0% of hotel gross sales, whichever greater; ■A contribution of $700,000.00 to the adjacent City park and $500,000.00 for low-income housing?�

The conceptual plan for the hotel shows a long, slender building designed like the curves and cascading balconies of a cruise ship, only smaller. The hotel would be limited to a 130-foot height and no more than 300 rooms.

The $700,000 voluntary contribution from ESJ would go to the city’s adjoining Ichimura MiamiJapan Garden. ESJ’s $500,000 donation for low-income housing would go into to the city’s new affordable housing trust.

Along with the hotel, near-term redevelopment plans include amenities like an indoor state-of-the-art

trampoline park, an aerial play and rope course, an outdoor skydiving wind tunnel, escape rooms, a beach restaurant, multiple water play elements, a zip-line experience, a Crystal Lagoon and a lazy river.

ESJ representatives told Miami Today that the new Jungle Island park, hotel, and amenities are expected to create up to 500 new permanent jobs.

While ESJ representatives say their community outreach has been extensive and earned public support for the proposal, a band of detractors remains, voicing opposition to added development on the island, saying it will further exacerbate traffic gridlock.

It has resulted in a case of dueling websites and dueling petitions – pro and con.

Those wishing to sign a petition in favor of Jungle Island’s plan can do so by visiting www.yestoanewjungleisland.com.

Those wishing to sign a petition, “Say NO to the New Jungle Island,� can do so by visiting www.jungleislandopposition.org.

The latest Jungle Island proposal was originally going to be put on the city commission’s agenda May 10 but wasn’t ready.

It was then destined to be on the May 24 meeting agenda, but the administration pulled it.

It was Vice Chair Ken Russell who brought up Jungle Island on May 24, and the idea of a special meeting.

Mr. Russell acknowledged that the city is considering several lease deals and property matters that could end up going before city voters this year. “There was an item on this agenda (May 24) having to do with Jungle Island, which is a city property, and I know they are trying to get on the August referendum ballot.

And I recognize why the city manager pulled the item. There’s a lot that needs to be put together and perhaps it was not ready for today, but in order to give it a chance, I’d be open ‌ [to consider] a special meeting,� said Mr. Russell.

After a short discussion on the June 8 deadline, commissioners approved a resolution scheduling a special meeting June 8 for the purposes of “discussing and taking any and all actions associated with the modification of the lease between the City of Miami and ESJ JI Leasehold LLC, including but not limited to any and all potential amendments to the charter ‌â€?

The adventure park, closed for many months after Hurricane Irma in September, reopened Memorial Day weekend.

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)"37&: 367*/ $-&3, $)3*4501)&3 "(3*11" %&165: $-&3, For legal ads online, go to http://legalads.miamidade.gov

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MIAMI TODAY

VIEWPOINT

WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 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

It’s decades past time to get transit lines rolling – move now Miami Beach sent the state a plan to join with Miami and run light rail from 63rd Street on the Beach south and then across the bay to downtown Miami.

The whole thing could be done for $220 million to $260 million, the plan said, running rail every 10 to 15 minutes for 19 hours and carrying 30,000 people a day.

The plan was the perfect solution to Miami Beach and Beach-Miami traffic congestion that has ballooned for years – so perfect that it’s a crying shame the whole idea died after the state got it more than 30 years ago.

Leafing through that April 1988 package to Tallahassee reveals that one leg of the Smart plan that the county is now trying to build could have been serving us almost three decades ago. Had it been built with bonded debt, that debt would now be repaid.

The Beach-Miami system, meanwhile, could have carried nearly 11 million riders a year for 30 years – about 12% of what all county transit services now carry.

Could have, would have, should have – but we didn’t do it.

So two years ago we were talking about spending $776 million to build only part

of that line, from downtown Miami up to the Miami Beach Convention Center and no farther, shortening the 1988 plan about 4.5 miles for three times the cost.

Of course, we didn’t do that either, just as the many light rail plans for the Beach have gone by the wayside since 1988.

That’s 30 years times 11 million riders a year – 330 million rides – taken up the Beach or across the causeway by car instead of mass transit while we dithered over which plan or which transit mode or which route or which vendor or which team of participants or which funding source to use.

Now the transit flavor of the day has shifted to Personal Rapid Transit, carrying a handful of riders in each pod in a system touted as costing only $10 million a mile, versus the $12 million to $13 million a mile of the light rail plan 30 years ago.

Sounds wonderful. Sounds like a bargain.

But it also sounds like we should have built the light rail 30 years ago and had 330 million rides in the interim, even if we could have saved millions in a 30-year wait marked by increasing roadway congestion.

The point is, we’ve got to stop debating and waiting and start actually using a transit mode, whatever it might be and whoever might be in charge and whatever route it takes to get there.

Every mode has fans. Aerial gondolas to the Beach, Personal Mass Transit to the Beach, light rail to the Beach, ground-level Metrorail to the Beach – one has to be better than another, one has to be cheaper, one has to be easier – but do we want to

spend 30 years hunting for perfection instead of riding?

Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré, in a series of articles on this page last year, warned against investing in costly and dying rail transit.

Current Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez first was a proponent of heavy rail, then shifted to trains of buses running on city streets, and now seems to have moved to Personal Rapid Transit for at least some county transit legs.

This newspaper has long sought as few transit modes as possible in order to build ridership, because more passengers will ride if they don’t have to transfer. (The automobile is the ultimate no-transfer ride, which may be one reason we have so much trouble getting people to leave theirs at home and use public transit instead.)

In short, it’s like herding cats to get us all on the same track for just a transit mode, much less route, timing or financing. Get 10 Miamians in a room and you’ll hear 11 firmly held viewpoints on what we need in transit – after all, we’re all experts because we all go somewhere.

Even if we could all agree today on how to get there, some new form of transit is going to come down the road in a few months to distract us.

That’s why it’s time – right now – for government to stop studying transit modes, pick one and get it done. Mr. Ferré may be absolutely right that rail is a 19th century solution. But people still board those 19th century solutions every day and go from here to there aboard them – Brightline won’t release figures but it

must have some riders on its brand-new run from Miami to Palm Beach, and we’re positive that Tri-Rail will carry passengers when it finally rolls into downtown Miami.

We also know that Bus Rapid Transit, which is like a train, would carry people if it got started. So would airborne gondolas or Personal Rapid Transit or roadways filled with autonomous vehicles, which can run far closer together than cars driven by human beings who are, after all, human when it comes to reaction time.

If we keep waiting, the cost of mobility may fall, new modes will appear, and a changing cast of officials will shift opinions on what we should do where. But meanwhile, we’ll keep suffering from increased road congestion that slows us down and – worse – makes arrival times less and less certain. That is a huge human, psychological and economic cost.

Just think: was it worth the loss of 330 million transit rides to keep debating what to do about Baylink for three decades?

If we’d built it then, we’d have spent less than $1 a ride for infrastructure and now own the system free and clear – and 330 million rides would have been taken without worrying about traffic.

Bottom line: any transit mode we put into service today is going to beat waiting for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and…

Even the second-best choice is going to be far better than doing nothing. We’ve tried doing nothing for 30 years and, guess what, it didn’t work. In transit, action is better than waiting and waiting for future perfection.

What would the Dalai Lama do at the cruise ship dinner table?

The cruise ship dinner table was set for eight, but on the first night only six people showed up: the farmer and the cheerleader (husband and wife); the grandma and the alcoholic (sisters); and the group facilitator with her judgmenIsaac Prilleltensky tal husband (me).

The two empty chairs caused consternation among the six of us. Had the missing couple gone by our table and refused to sit with us? Had they rejected us before they even met us?

We were relieved to learn that our paranoia was unfounded. As it happened, the party animal and her husband the foodie missed the first dinner because they ate at a more exclusive restaurant. They did join us for the remaining three nights of the cruise, though. And every dinner they regaled us with stories of delicacies, drinking and dancing.

Despite my reclusive proclivities, I was fully prepared to socialize with six strangers for four consecutive dinners. I came ready with open-ended questions, approving nods, and a curious attitude.

I’m sure all six of them were very interesting people, with exotic backgrounds and unique life stories, but there was one problem: they were as communicative as the silverware.

Ora, my wife, assumed the role of group facilitator. She went around the table asking people about their lives, their kids, their pets, their jobs, and their hobbies, until she ran out of topics. She used all

The Writer

Isaac Prilleltensky is an academic and humor writer. His most recent book is The Laughing Guide to WellBeing: Using Humor and Science to Become Happier and Healthier. Follow his humor blog at www.thelaughingguide.com. You can reach him at prilleltensky@gmail.com the counseling skills she taught students for years, but to no avail.

Addressing the farmer, Ora said, “I’m sure it must be very interesting living on a farm. What is your day like?” After an interminable pause, he replied: “I get up, have my coffee, and watch the weather channel all day.” In case we had any doubts about his interest in conversation, his statement was emitted with as much expression as Jared Kushner and as much charm as Michael Cohen. No wonder his wife the cheerleader chose to go back to work when he retired.

Trying to include the alcoholic in a meaningful conversation was futile. Having declared that she had purchased the beverage package for a ridiculous amount of money – which, according to our calculations, cost as much as the cruise itself – she went on and on about all the wines she had tasted already, starting at 7 a.m.

Ora inquired: “Where did you grow up?” “The Pinot Noir Valley” she replied.

“What’s your favorite sport?” I asked.

“Riesling.”

“Where do you go for fun?” “Cabernet.”

“Do you have a favorite color?” “Sauvignon Blanc.”

Her sister the grandma was very affable, but getting her to talk was harder than getting the foodie to stop talking about steak. So obsessed were the foodie and the party animal with steak that every night they made a special order from the “additional charge menu.” Considering that there were multiple delicious options from the free menu, Ora and I thought it was ridiculous to spend extra money on bad cholesterol.

But hey, wait a minute. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m a judgmental, opinionated, condescending prick, aren’t you? But I ask you, if you’re judgmental toward my judgmentalism, where does that leave you? Did you learn self-righteousness from James Comey?

This whole dinner situation provoked some philosophical quandaries for me.

On one hand, embracing diversity is a virtue – even if the diverse people refuse to talk with you about anything other than alcohol or animal fat.

But on the other hand, what do you do when you’re on vacation and the dinner table feels like a prison cell surrounded by addictive personalities with the social graces of an amoeba? I tried to think, what would the Dalai Lama do? He’d probably persevere, night after night, Sisyphean style.

I tried meditating on it, silently rehearsing the loving kindness tapes that Ora said will be good for me. I even tried to be less judgmental, imagining what it would be to like to watch the weather channel all day, or to wake up thinking about the wine list in the beverage package. I even imagined

what it would be like to eat steak all day.

I went as far as thinking what it would be like to be a plumber on a cruise ship, unclogging toilets.

Following much deliberation, perspective-taking, and ethical pondering – which included abandoning the assigned dinner table and going solo – we did the right thing and stuck with our assigned partners, but not before issuing a set of recommendations to the cruise line: 1. Along with mandatory evacuation drills, all passengers must rehearse asking questions, establishing eye contact, maintaining a logical sequence in conversation, and displaying interest in other people – even if it’s fake.

2. Start a chapter of Judgmental Anonymous on every ship.

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12

MIAMI TODAY

WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018

TODAY’S NEWS

City yields zoning OK at public-private tower

By John Charles Robbins

Photo by Marlene Quaroni

Karen Gilmore: each bank “makes a contribution in terms of how our bank president thinks about things.”

Miami-Dade economic gain traced

by Miami’s Federal Reserve office

By Jesse Scheckner

Florida’s construction business is booming, while job prospects continue to decline in information, the most recent statewide employment index from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows.

Statewide construction employment, which averaged 17.4% growth in the first quarter of 2018, has remained steady since rebounding from a fourth-quarter dip last year.

Between January and March, about 16,800 construction jobs were added statewide, accounting for more than half of the 31,700 construction jobs created since October.

In contrast, the professional and business service industry – Florida’s largest industry, employing about 1.4 million people (compared to 513,000 in construction) – added 13,600 new jobs since December.

Employment in the information industry, conversely, showed negative momentum between January and March, with an industry contraction estimate of 1.2% despite the addition of about 300 jobs across the state.

Unemployment levels in MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties reflect the national average, according to the report, as most key industries expand and improve

amid a generally strong economy.

At 4.2%, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are just behind the state unemployment level listed at 3.9% in February by the Atlanta Fed, and an infinitesimal amount behind the national 4.1% level.

Miami-Dade County trails its tri-county counterparts in overall employment, but only slightly, said Karen Gilmore, vice president and regional executive at the Miami Office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, “but it has been improving,” she said.

Ms. Gilmore, who pointed to manufacturing as another growing industry, said the Fed’s overall outlook for the county is “fairly positive.”

That outlook is largely determined by a local board of directors, comprised of industry and business leaders outside the federal government who informally share information about industry projections and market trends with the bank.

“We’re not necessarily looking for economists,” she said. “We’re looking for executives that are engaged in business or in not-for-profit – that’s a resource we tap – and from there we look for people in industries that are important to the economy and also for company size.”

Local information is then conveyed to the Atlanta headquarters and its president, Raphael Bostic, who sits on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) with 11 other reserve bank presidents and governors of the Federal Reserve System.

“Each of the banks makes a contribution in terms of how our bank president thinks about things,” Ms. Gilmore said.

In addition to the information she receives from the Miami board of directors, Ms. Gilmore meets with about 80 key business executives from various industries. Every six to eight weeks, before FOMC meetings, she meets with those key executives and the bank’s board to ask questions regarding demand, labor force, workforce conditions, input and output prices and capital investment strategies. All of that anecdotal evidence is then compared with hard economic data to determine accuracy.

“We work with our economists to do all the technical modeling and all the data, looking for things that don’t match,” Ms. Gilmore said. “We’re looking for things that substantiate the data or perhaps things not in the data that might be a new trend or something we really need to pay attention going forward.”

Miami-Dade County government will ultimately be responsible for all zoning and permitting authority for a major public-private partnership bringing a mixed-use residential tower and new City of Miami fire station to Brickell.

The project will replace city Fire Station No. 4 at 1105 SW Second Ave. with a larger, state-of-the-art fire station.

The city commission on May 24 approved a deal to expand the Rapid Transit Zone around the Brickell Metrorail Station to tie into the new mixed-use development from Southside Place LLC and the city.

The project is being built in city Commissioner Ken Russell’s district. He says the move will facilitate development of the mixed-use project, which will include a new parking garage and first floor retail.

Southside has offered to consolidate its adjacent property at 191 SW 12th St. with the city’s site for no compensation, unifying the properties under city ownership. Southside would pay to build a fire station and develop an attached residential tower with parking and retail.

The fire station is less than a block west of the county’s Brickell Metrorail Station and separate Metromover station.

The county controls the land under the elevated Metrorail and Metromover tracks, regulated as the Rapid Transit Zone and a series of subzones.

City commissioners have authorized the city manager to sign a city-county agreement “for expansion and development of the Rapid Transit Zone with inclusion of the Brickell Metrorail Station, its surrounding property, a new city Fire Station No. 4, public-private parking garage, and mixed-use project.”

City officials want to expedite construction under a single regulator to avoid duplicative or inconsistent processes.

Pending county legislation says the city wants to transfer to the county all zoning and permitting authority for the project.

The agreement establishes county jurisdiction for building and zoning approvals, water and sewer

installations, environmental compliance, street maintenance, and utility regulation over the subzone for any future development that meets certain parameters.

County code provides for city participation in the design, review, zoning and development.

A background memo notes that the city will participate and provide input through representation at the Rapid Transit Development Impact Committee.

As part of the background memo, city officials included a breakdown of promises the developer made to the city.

City commissioners in July 2017 authorized the city manager to execute a Public Benefit Agreement with Southside Place LLC regarding construction of the fire station.

Southside Place and city staff have worked with the county to extend the Brickell Rapid Transit Zone to include those properties for a transit-development oriented mixed-use project that will invest $8 million to build a 30,000-squarefoot, two-story fire station with a mezzanine, new workout equipment, and space for fire-rescue trucks the city will obtain when the station is ready.

The project is to include construction of a parking garage pedestal above the new fire station, and a mixed-used use residential tower with retail.

Once the new fire station gets a temporary certificate of occupancy, the developer is to pay the city $2.2 million to buy a ladder truck, an engine truck, two fire-rescue trucks and two Ford trucks.

The agreement also provides that the developer will: ■Convey to the city 50 parking spaces valued at about $1.5 million that the city will own and use for public parking that the Miami Parking Authority will manage.

■Pay the city annually 5% of all profits the project generates, with the initial $800,000 in advance, regardless of actual profits.

The city’s profits in the deal must go directly towards fire-rescue.

The deal allows for continued fire service seamlessly, as the new station would be finished before the old one is closed.

Regional banks outpace deposit drought, but for how long?

By Jesse Scheckner

Major regional banks across the country reported a drain on deposits in May, leading to increased competition for funds that affected first-quarter earnings. The decline, partially attributable to the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise short-term rates, has led many customers to withdraw money from bank accounts still offering minimal interest returns.

Deposits declined for about 45% of major regional banks last year, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data – a sharp rise from just 9% in deposit drop-offs the year prior.

Some regional banks in South Florida haven’t yet been touched by this growing trend, but they’re aware of its approach.

Take BBVA Compass, which experienced double-digit deposit growth in 2017 and had a loan-to-deposit ratio of 89% at the end of this year’s first quarter, according

to Miami Commercial Banking Manager Alex Pascual.

In total, Mr. Pascual said first-quarter deposits at BBVA Compass increased 4% more in 2018 than during the same period a year ago.

“The Miami Commercial office has seen its deposits grow [year-to-date] as a result of our full relationship approach and the leverage of technology to provide [added value] solutions to our clients,” he wrote in an email.

Adding that personal touch to banking is crucial to customer retention, said Jeff Klink, South Florida regional president of Valley National Bank, which in 2014 purchased 1st United Bank, then Palm Beach County’s largest bank.

“What keeps us in business, in a lot of ways, is that relationship with the individual or the business,” he said. “You’ve got to be competitive on the rate side, but those relationships are valuable from an efficiency standpoint.”

Mr. Klink said about 42% of the bank’s South Florida accounts are non-interestbearing.

“They’re core operating accounts housing the livelihood of a business – they’re working capital and operating funds,” he said.

Headquartered in Wayne, NJ, Valley National Bank operates about 200 banks in New York, New Jersey, Alabama and Florida, whose southeast region of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties contributes $1.3 billion to the bank’s $30 billion in total assets, according to Mr. Klink.

Since January, deposits in South Florida have increased – an encouraging change from the relatively flat level the bank experienced until recently, Mr. Klink said.

“I think that’s because there’s been a lot of market disruption, which has made it complicated for business owners,” he said. “As you drill down, statistic-wise,

you’ll see that prior to the recession there were approximately 80 banks based in Southeast Florida. Currently, that number is about half.”

But while more deposits have started to come in, Mr. Klink said he remains cognizant of the general trends moving across the market that, despite the uptick in funding, has nonetheless reached Valley National Bank’s southeastern doors.

“Market compression – upward compression, as it relates to deposit rates – is definitely there, and we respond with certain products where we have either looked at raising rates or have raised rates,” he said. “It’s really month-to-month, but there are instances where we do need to borrow overnight funds in order to cover a small shortfall in deposits. When you have to borrow overnight funds, you’re no longer paying a rate that’s close to zero; you’re paying 2%, which is relatively expensive when you look at the last 10 years.”

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WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018

MIAMI TODAY

Gold Medal Awards

2018

Six Gold Medalists, lifetime achiever Tibor Hollo honored Three accomplished individuals and three prominent organizations accepted Gold Medal honors highlighting their outstanding contributions to Greater Miami at Miami Today’s Gold Medal Awards dinner.

During the star-studded May 24 ceremony at Jungle Island that also marked Miami Today’s 35th anniversary, longtime development leader Tibor Hollo, the founder of Florida East Coast Realty, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for his multitude of past and current contributions to the community.

Outside judges selected the Gold Medal Awards winners from among victors in local and national competitions last year – only top-level recipients were eligible to enter the Gold Medal competition. Miami Today and dinner sponsor Jungle Island, an ESJ Capital Partners company, chose and then honored Mr. Hollo as Lifetime Achiever.

In balloting for the top organization, judges selected Swire Properties’ Brickell City Centre for the Gold Medal. The billiondollar project in 2017 received the Urban Land Institute’s Vision Awards recognition as the project of the year for Southeast Florida and the Caribbean.

Maile Aguila, senior vice president of residential sales for Swire Properties, accepted the award for Swire. Josh Moody, managing director and complex director for Miami, Naples and the Island Complex for Gold Medal sponsor Merrill Lynch, made the presentation to Ms. Aguila.

Aida Levitan, the chairman of U.S. Century Bank, who last year received the InterAmerican Institute for Democracy’s Henry Dunant Award for Corporate Philanthropy, was honored with the Gold Medal for an individual.

Aliette Rodz, partner in medal sponsor Shutts & Bowen LLP who presented the award to Ms. Levitan, noted her pride in honoring a Cuban-American woman who had achieved such stature.

Miami Dade College won the Silver Medal for an organization based upon three honors that the college won in 2017: the Achieving the Dream Leah Meyer Austin Award for outstanding achievement in designing a studentfocused culture, the top spot on the list of colleges and universities for Hispanics, and the Engaged Campus of the Year from the Florida Campus Compact.

The Silver Medal was sponsored

by Pinnacle Housing Group. Pinnacle Partner Louis Wolfson III, who was the presenter, learned after judges made their decisions that he certainly was no stranger to the winner. His grandfather, Col. Mitchell Wolfson, created the Miami Dade College Foundation and the college’s downtown Miami campus is named for him. Louis Wolfson III is a board member

Photos by Cristina Sullivan

Winners Juan and Megan Mullerat of PlusUrbia Design, Marie Gill, Aida Levitan, Tibor Hollo, Corey Lee, Juan Mendieta of Miami Dade College.

of the foundation and a major benefactor of the college, and in his presentation he traced the history of the college and his family’s long involvement. He noted that his grandfather had three aims in that involvement: “jobs, jobs, jobs” for those who would attend the college. Accepting the award was Juan Mendieta, the college’s communication director.

The Silver Medal for an individual went to attorney Corey Lee, a partner in Hunton Andrews Kurth, who received the medal from Tom C. Murphy, co-president of sponsoring Coastal Construction.

The Bronze Medal for an organization went to PlusUrbia Design, which last year was honored by the American Planning Association with its National Economic Development Plan Award for its redesign of the Wynwood Neighborhood Revitalization District.

The firm also earned the 2017 Award of Merit from the American Planning Association of Florida for its guidelines for a new transitoriented development for 300 acres in Hialeah.

Presenting the Bronze Medal to PlusUrbia founder Juan Mullerat was Kasim Badak, CEO of spon-

soring Okan Development, which is about to build Okan Tower on North Miami Avenue.

The Bronze Medal for an individual was presented to Marie Gill, president of M. Gill & Associates, who received two major awards last year: The Woman in Public Service of the Year from the Minority Chamber of Commerce, and the Century Club Award from the US Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency. Marie Bertot, senior communication specialist of sponsoring Florida Power & Light Co., made the presentation of the medal.

Tibor Hollo, by accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, followed luminaries, chronologically, Judy Drucker, Adolfo Henriques, Merrett Stierheim, Phillip and Patricia Frost, Sen. Bob Graham, Aaron Podhurst, Arthur Hertz, Maurice Ferré and Jorge Pérez.

Mr. Stierheim, Mr. Henriques and Mr. Ferré were present to applaud Mr. Hollo as the entire audience gave a prolonged standing ovation to the development veteran whose work has touched so many lives. Miami Today pub-

lishers Michael Lewis and Carmen Betancourt-Lewis noted that Mr. Hollo was the newspaper’s first landlord at 444 Brickell Ave. In presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Arnaud Sitbon, founder and owner of ESJ Capital partners, the owner of event sponsor Jungle Island, noted Mr. Hollo’s broad and lasting impact Mr. Hollo, said Mr. Sitbon, “has recorded more than 60 million square feet of construction, including single-family homes, landmark residential and commercial high-rises, government buildings, marinas, high-end retail centers and warehouse complexes.

It’s a hard to spend many hours in this county without seeing work done by Tibor Hollo.”

In fact, the day of the awards ceremony, the first residential rental tenants moved into Mr. Hollo’s latest landmark building, the 85-story Panorama Tower at 1100 Brickell Bay Drive.

As Mr. Hollo’s wife Sheila and son Wayne, executive vice president of Florida East Coast Realty, listened, Mr. Hollo, obviously moved, accepted the Lifetime Achieve Award from

Mr. Sitbon, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Betancourt-Lewis.

Judges who selected the Gold Medal Awards were Tom Hudson, vice president of news for WLRN; Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association; Alfred Sanchez, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce; Mark Trowbridge, president and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce; and J. Antonio Villamil, founder and principal of the Washington Economics Group.

Judges based selections on: ■The importance of achievements for which nominees had received awards in the past year.

■The stature of those recognizing organizations.

■The long-term impact of the honorees’ achievements on this community.

Miami Today 19 years ago established the Gold Medal Awards to honor The Best of the Best, choosing among honorees that already had received from peers top honors in the prior year.

The judges, past Gold Medal Award winners, leaders in business and government, as well as an international delegation of consuls general, attended to salute the honorees.

The event was held at Jungle Island on Watson Island just before the attraction’s formal re-opening after repairs following Hurricane Irma of last September. Changes included marked upgrades to the dining area and the entire facility as it prepares to add a series of attractions and seeks a new lease for an attached hotel, an issue that is to come before Miami city commissioners June 8.

Former multi-term Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré, who attended with wife Mercedes, gave an impromptu plea to guests to continue to support with both subscriptions and advertising the quality journalism that Miami Today provides as he joined in the evening’s plaudits for the vision and achievements of Mr. Hollo and the Mercedes and past lifetime achiever Maurice Ferré; Sheila and lifetime achiever Tibor Hollo; Wayne Hollo. Gold Medal Awards winners.

28

WEEK OF THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018

MIAMI TODAY

Allow me a moment to join you in your celebration of Miami Today reaching its 35-year milestone. Bravo! This amazing accomplishment would not have happened were it not for your tireless hard work, leadership, and commitment to excellence. I am positive that you put in many long days to ensure the paper’s success. A job well done, my friends. You both are precious gems of our community, and we are so very fortunate to have you as key members who care deeply about it. Wishing you all the best, and cheers to another 35 years!

I am a long-time reader of Miami Today, which provides in-depth coverage of business issues often missed or glossed over by other news media. Your articles are always timely, concise and of great interest to the inquisitive business community. And you have always been accessible and approachable – something I personally value.

Eduardo J. Padrón President Miami Dade College I’ve read Miami Today throughout my professional career because it’s genuine and authentic news about the community we all love so much. Congratulations on this important milestone, and on behalf of all of your readers, I appreciate and regularly look forward to the reporting of Miami Today.

Brian Keeley President and CEO Baptist Health South Florida I look forward to receiving my Miami Today every week. Michael’s commentary on a wide variety of subjects is always insightful. Miami Today’s coverage of local government is unparalleled and is unavailable elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine successfully negotiating the local regulatory waters or doing business in Miami-Dade without being armed with the background knowledge published by you accurately and in great detail weekly.

Jeff Berkowitz CEO, Berkowitz Development Group

Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera

Heard around town

Miami Today has been a premier source of information for what is happening in Miami for me since 1995. The information published is at the center of what is important and the coverage is insightful and helpful in keeping up with the pulse of the community. The weekly focus on leaders and achievers is not only enjoyable, but helps welcome and connect those new to the community.

Alfred Sanchez President & CEO Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce

Reading the Miami Today is a weekly ritual that has become an important part of our lives.

There is a reason: it provides the news we need to know to productively exist in South F lorida. Whether we are interested in banking issues, government operations, non-profit activities or real estate transactions; we find it all in each and every edition. Print media still has an important place on the desks of community leaders, in the reading carrels of our libraries, in the waiting areas of offices and on the coffee tables of homes – all places where citizens can absorb the issues facing our complex community.

Please keep the presses rolling!

Tomas Abreu Honorary Consul Consulate of the Principality of Monaco in Miami In an era of ever-changing priorities as it relates to media coverage, I see Miami Today as a breath of fresh air.

Our city has changed dramatically in the 35 years since you founded Miami Today, but it is gratifying to know that the publication’s mission, bringing to the forefront issues crucial to that growth and our quality of life, is still paramount. I want to not only congratulate you on your success, but applaud your efforts to continuously informing us about the most important matters our diverse community faces.

I regard Miami Today as the most important and well respected news publication in Miami.

I stay informed on current real estate, business, and political issues by reading Miami Today.

Miami Today has a reputation for reporting objectively and thoroughly on vital topics to the community.

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Congratulations!

Miami Today, Books & Books, Rodriguez and Quiroga Architects share the same 35th Anniversary!

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Without this wonderful newspaper Miami would be left with almost no coverage of local government or local issues. Both the editorial content and news coverage are always consistent with the highest of journalistic standards, The people of Miami-Dade County can always count on Miami Today to provide thoughtful and responsible views and facts.

We all should be grateful that Miami Today exists and will continue to serve the public!

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Harvey Ruvin Clerk of the Courts Miami-Dade County