WMG Volume 5 • Issue 4 March 7, 2018
Wilton Manors Gazette
POLITICS
Resnick Will Run for Re-election By Michael d’Oliveira Mayor Gary Resnick.
Citing issues he said still need to be worked Campbell, owner of Katharine Campbell on, Mayor Gary Resnick said he will run for Counseling & Consulting, located in Wilton re-election this November. He’s joined in the Manors, have opened campaign accounts and mayoral race by Vice Mayor Justin Flippen will run for the two seats. The two candidates who get the most votes will be the winners. who announced his candidacy in December. Rolli said he thinks the major issues facing “There’s too many items that we’ve got going on,” said Resnick, who named infrastructure, the city are “economic development and including bridges and the water system, as sustainability through smart growth,” as well as the possible impact Fort one of the important issues he Lauderdale’s water system wants to address. problems might have on “Our bridges are 70 years Wilton Manors, which gets its old.” He added that he would water from that city. be traveling to D.C. soon to Rolli, the immediate past talk to Senator Bill Nelson and chair of the city’s Budget other members of Congress Review Committee and a about infrastructure and the retired IRS budget director, availability of funding for it. said he wants to work to “Some residents have reached preserve the neighborhoods, out to me and asked me to keep property taxes low, and run again. I think it would improve the quality of life. He be inappropriate for me to also wants the city to embrace abandon the city at this point.” technology more, including Flippen said he’s running to allowing people to pay all address quality of life issues, - Gary Resnick their city-related bills online. “the balance between our Mayor Residents could still pay bills neighborhoods and growth the old-fashioned way, but and development,” livability, aging, continued public safety, adequate Rolli wants a complete online option for sidewalk access for seniors and the disabled, people who want that. “I ran the last time and I think I have the the water rate structure, and code issues. “Many things affect quality of life – water experience and energy to do the job. We have rates, accessibility to parks, availability of to look towards today and plan effectively for the future . . . [As an IRS budget director] I’ve green space.” In the race for the two commission seats managed more people than the city has in currently occupied by Commissioner Scott terms of employees.” Newton said he’s running to make city Newton and Flippen, Newton will run for rehall as appealing as other city halls and keep election. Paul Rolli, president of the Central Area working on the parking issues facing Wilton Neighborhood Association, and Dr. Katharine Manors, as well as making the city more viable
“I think it would be inappropriate for me to abandon the city at this point.”
for businesses – something he wants to put on “the backs of businesses and not the residents.” He added that he thinks he’s done a good job as a commissioner in regards to the city’s current economic position. “I still have a lot of pride in what I do.” Campbell said she wants to improve support for families and small businesses. That includes improving sidewalks, so that families and elder residents can better navigate the
city, and making sure the city’s code requirements are ones that small businesses can afford. She cited signage requirements, and making sure businesses can afford to implement them, as one example. “We do a lot of things right and a few things we could do better . . . It’s about all our community members.” Resnick was first elected mayor in 2008 and first elected to the city commission in 1998. WMG
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Opinion
A Raging Spirit By Sal Torre
WMG March 7, 2018 • Volume 5 • Issue 4 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305
Photo: Bobby Kennedy.
Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943
Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com Copyeditor • Kerri Covington
Editorial
Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com Digital Content Director • Brittany Ferrendi Webmaster@sfgn.com News Editor • Michael d’Oliveira
Correspondents Having just finished reading Chris Matthews’ book, “Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit,” I find myself yearning for a time when we had great national leaders on both sides of the aisle that struggled and fought to make our country better. I was reminded of my liberal Catholic upbringing, when helping the poor and those in need was a noble cause. Unlike today when our President labels hard-working families as criminals, rapists, and free-loaders deserving deportation. Our faith taught us to take a stand for the rights of all Americans rather than choosing some while turning our backs on others, like a Miami school teacher who just wanted to marry the love of her life, not to make a statement or to get fired from the job she loved doing. That liberal Catholic upbringing guided many to become involved in their communities, some becoming national leaders like Bobby Kennedy, to push for the rights of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and poor Americans living in harsh poverty throughout the country. Today our society awards the wealthy 1 percent with enormous tax cuts while hard-working families struggle to get by. We elect a self-absorbed tyrant rather than moral leaders like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. who were both assassinated in 1968 before finishing the work they started that helped move this great nation forward on its noble journey. Back here in our Island City, I have received some negative feedback from numerous residents over my recent statements on the Archdiocese of Miami. My comments were in no way attacking St. Clements Church or the services they and other non-profits carry out by serving those in and around our great city. Long before the Archdiocese of Miami fired a school teacher for getting married to her same-sex partner, I have been a strong advocate for charging our non-profits their fair share of the Fire and EMS services they receive here in Wilton Manors. Like all city’s residents, some on fixed incomes, some just getting by from paycheck to paycheck, some struggling to raise families, we all have to pay our bills. We have to pay our electric bill, our insurance
premium, and our water bill and yes, the city’s Fire Assessment Fee, a bill that pays for the Fire and EMS services we all need. Up until 2015, our city’s non-profits paid nothing for the services they used, while residents were charged more to cover those costs. Since 2015, the city has moved to charge non-profits a portion of those fees with the understanding that that percentage would continue to rise on a sliding scale upward over a few years covering more of the cost of those services. Churches and other non-profits still and always will enjoy their tax-free status. That is the privilege earned by the role they play in our society, by providing crucial social services and other public benefits. Here in our Island City, in Broward County, in Miami-Dade, in most Florida counties along with almost all of the Fortune 500 companies that employ Florida residents, there are laws protecting LGBT residents from discrimination, laws that protect them from being fired for marrying their same-sex partner. So why are many of our residents willing to turn a blind eye when the Archdiocese chooses to operate in such a punitive and hateful manner? One respected member of our community stated at our last City Commission meeting that the firing was legal and that the teacher knew the conditions of her employment working for a private religious institution. Really? Is it too much to ask that the largest non-governmental provider of social services, schools, and hospital systems in South Florida morally act on the same playing field that this community demands from everyone else. I think so! Pope Francis recently highlighted the work of fellow Catholic Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Workers movement during the Great Depression. Dorothy Day railed against inequality and promoted the idea of an inclusive “human family.” Perhaps it’s time for the Archdiocese of Miami to reexamine their priorities and embrace the human family that is South Florida. Only by holding ourselves to higher standards instead of selfinterest, not turning a blind eye to injustice, and demanding the same from community leaders and elected officials will we continue to make life just better here.
John McDonald • James Oaksun
Staff Photographers
J.R. Davis • Pompano Bill • Steven Shires
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Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER
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“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” - Bobby Kennedy, 1966 WMG
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WilMa, How’s It Going?
Real Estate
By James Oaksun Every year about this time, I update my readers on how things are going in the single family home market in the Island City. This year is no exception. In this column I will discuss some overall results and trends for the whole city. There will be additional information on the three specific neighborhoods of WilMa in a blog entry on my website, NewRealtyConcepts.com. As a starting point, I would recommend taking a look at the longer term historical trends for the three neighborhoods. You’ll find those in my Real Estate Yearbook, also on the New Realty Concepts website. Before getting to the numbers, there are a couple of overall observations of which you need to be aware. First, real estate has been flying pretty high here since the 2011 market trough. In most neighborhoods, prices had been increasing at a compounded rate of 10 percent or more per year. And into last year, homeowners in the Island City shared in those gains. The second observation is that the real estate market in Wilton Manors is seasonal in nature. Yes, we have sales throughout the year. But generally, actual closings on single family homes tend to concentrate in the period from March to August. The first part of the period is more seasonal/ second or vacation home business, with locals buying in the later weeks. Overall, prices in WilMa peaked early in 2017, and have been essentially flat since then. Things seemed to
be flattening as I wrapped up the Yearbook analysis last summer, but now the trend seems confirmed: Overall prices have stalled out in the Island City. Sales have been a bit variable, but the trend here is positive. For the 12 months ended 2/28/2018, Island City single family home sales are up by 13 percent compared with the 12 months ending in February 2017. Again, results for the overall city mask to some degree what has been occurring in the three neighborhoods. For example, the increase in sales is being driven by activity in the center part of the city (Andrews to Dixie). The west and east neighborhoods have had essentially flat sales. You can refer to the website for the details. As for inventory levels… well that is a curious thing indeed. Through late last year, inventory levels were decently balanced in all three neighborhoods, relative to the sales activity that has occurred recently, with availability favoring neither buyers nor sellers. But I noted something interesting. As I described in the Real Estate Yearbook and in a previous column, given the seasonality, the inventory level at any one time is more a leading indicator of expected activity than it is a coincident indicator of the current situation. In other words, if a strong second and early third quarter of sales were to be expected, inventory levels right now would be significantly higher than we are now seeing. With 75,000 Realtors serving the Miami to Jupiter region, I know lots of my friends are looking for listings regularly. But the
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numbers suggest that a lot of owners in WilMa are now in a “wait and see” mode. More will be revealed. WMG James Oaksun, Florida’s Real Estate Geek(SM), is BrokerOwner of New Realty Concepts in Oakland Park. In addition to having degrees from Dartmouth and Cornell, he is a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI).
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BRIEFS
BUSINESS
Check out what’s happening
Around Town
Developers Drop Plans for Former Church Property
By Michael d’Oliveira
By Michael d’Oliveira
Voters choose Concept #1 for welcome signs
Photo courtesy of Stellar Homes Group.
According to city officials, over 500 votes were tallied in the city’s online poll asking participants to choose a concept for the city’s proposed entrance signs. Concept #1 received 74 percent of the vote. City staff will refine the concept and bring it back to the commission to approve at a later date. WMG
Police claim two arrests in “Say Something” campaign The Wilton Manors Police Department credited two recent arrests to its “See Something – Say Something” imitative. “At approximately 11:35 pm last night [Feb. 25] an alert resident quickly called the WMPD to report 2 subjects committing vehicle burglaries in the 300 Block NW 26 Court, Wilton Manors. As officers arrived in the area we immediately located the 2 subjects and detained them. Further investigation revealed these subjects were responsible for 8 vehicle burglaries committed in this area, and they were arrested and charged accordingly. The SEE SOMETHING - SAY SOMETHING initiative worked and this “teamwork” allowed safety to be restored to this residential neighborhood,” wrote Assistant Chief Gary Blocker in an email. Blocker also stated that residents and visitors should lock their car doors because the majority of these crimes are committed with unlocked vehicles. WMG
Music at Mickel The Caribbean Chillers, a Jimmy Buffett tribute band, will be the next installment of the Music at Mickel Concert Series – Friday, March 24 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Mickel Park Concert Pavilion, 2675 NW 7 Ave., Wilton Manors. The event is free to the public. Food trucks and beverages will be available for purchase. Across The Universe, a Beatles tribute band, will perform on April 20. For sponsorship information and more information about the event, call 954-390-2130. WMG
Mickel Park. Photo courtesy of Wilton Mnaors.
Friends of the Library Book Tent The Friends of the Wilton Manors Library will hold their Book Tent event on Saturday, March 10 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hagen Park, 2020 Wilton Drive, during the Island City Yard Sale. Hundreds of books, videos, and audio materials will be available in exchange for a small donation. Funds raised benefit the Wilton Manors Library. WMG
When Baum was trying to build Plans to build 88 residential units on the former Center for Spiritual Living site in residential units, the project received support from some residents and rejection Wilton Manors have been cancelled. “Right now, we’re going back to the from others. Previously, John Fiore, a former drawing board,” said Larry Baum, founder of Stellar Homes Group, the company mayor and the vice president of the East developing the site, located at Northeast 15 Neighborhood Association, suggested 50 to 60 units. Resident Randy Comer Avenue and Northeast 26 Street. Baum said his company plans to attempt wanted developers to only build 40 units. some kind of business or commercial- Those against the project said it would related venture on the 4.9-acre site. ruin the character of the neighborhood. Nothing has been decided yet, he said, but Those in favor cited the tax benefits and possible ideas include a hotel or shopping commended the aesthetics of the project, center. “We’ve had so many different offers which was designed by Miami architect Rene Gonzalez. Resident Karl Lentzer and calls because it’s such a great site.” Baum said it was decided that the said the project would be “great for the neighborhood.” land was too valuable for In a new interview, Fiore residential condos and more “We’ve had stated he’d like to see Class money could be made in some A office space built there for other kind of use. “The market so many doctors, attorneys and other for condos has softened up.” different professionals. “If something He added that Stellar will offers and like that was built there, I go out to the community first don’t think we’d have a real before officially proposing calls because problem with that. An office anything to the city. “There’s it’s such a complex would be compatible no time frame yet. It’s still great site.” with the neighborhood . . . very up in the air. We’re big It’s a good site for it.” Fiore believers in Wilton Manors.” - Larry Baum said he’s less sure that a hotel The project was approved by Founder, Stellar homes group would be a good fit for the the Broward County Planning site, or Wilton Manors. “It Council in June of 2017. The would have to be small, and city commission gave tentative approval to the project in December of it’s just not cost effective.” Resident Laura Comer, who was against 2016, but told developers they needed to reduce the number of units further if building 88 units, said she’d like to move they wanted final commission approval. forward. She and some other residents Before that December meeting, developers were also against the G Resort hotel project had proposed 100 units. By the end, they that was proposed for the site in 2010. “This dropped further to 88. “I will not vote for a should be interesting. I hope they come up site plan that has the same footprint,” said with something decent so we can just move on from all this fighting.” WMG Mayor Gary Resnick at the time.
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4 4• •September March 7, 6, 2018 2017
News
politics
Commission Ponders Action on Gun Control
Commission Wants Less Dense
State bars municipalities from doing much of anything
Townhouse Project
By Michael d’Oliveira
By Michael d’Oliveira Photo courtesy of the City of Wilton Manors.
Commissioners are also weighing In the wake of the murder of 17 people during the Stoneman Douglas shooting whether to join a lawsuit brought by on Valentine’s Day, Wilton Manors city officials in Weston challenging that commissioners are trying to figure out how statute. Vice Mayor Justin Flippen said the city should challenge the law, but not to respond. At the beginning of their Feb. 27 break it. “Something has to be done,” said commission meeting, commissioners Commissioner Scott Newton. In addition to passing a resolution urging read the names of the victims who were murdered in Parkland. After previous the state and federal government to do more incidents of mass gun violence, such as to cut down on the availability of weapons when Pulse occurred, commissioners have like the AR-15, which was used in Parkland and in other mass shootings done the same. around the country, the It’s a tradition that Mayor Local elected commission also approved Gary Resnick said has gone officials spending $2,000 to send one on for far too long. “Enough of the Stoneman Douglas is enough. I am very much are barred students to Washington, D.C. in favor of taking a stand by the state to take part in the “March for to do something,” said from passing Our Lives” gun-control rally Commissioner Julie Carson, ordinances, on March 24. who said the city needs to rules, or Chief Paul O’Connell “make a change or proactively any kind of honored the members of change the laws in Florida in regulation that the Wilton Manors Police regard to gun regulation.” Department who responded Local elected officials are deals with guns to the shooting – Det. Bonnie barred by the state from and ammunition. Owens, Det. David Turner, passing ordinances, rules, or Det. Patrick Newton, Det. any kind of regulation that deals with guns and ammunition. Anyone Frantz Petitpapa, and Officer Matthew who violates the statute can be fined up Rowles. Victim Advocate Alberto Carrillo to $5,000 and removed from office by attended the CNN town hall to assist with the governor. Any regulations passed multi-agency victim’s advocate efforts. can also be declared null and void. “We “Despite what you hear in the media, need to have control, not Tallahassee,” these men and women answered the call, urged Father Jamie Forsythe, pastor at and they didn’t shy down. And for that, Holy Angels Catholic Church in Wilton I am very grateful and very proud,” said O’Connell. WMG Manors.
Commissioners voted to approve The Village of Wilton Manors development at their meeting on Feb. 27, but only to allow the developer the chance to reduce the density. It could be brought back to the commission as early as the end of this month, but no exact date was set. “I think townhouses there is perfect. My problem is the [number] of units,” said Commissioner Tom Green. Vice Mayor Justin Flippen and Commissioner Scott Newton made similar comments. Only Mayor Gary Resnick and Commissioner Julie Carson voted no. Carson said she hopes the developer comes back with a less dense project. Resnick said he generally supports the project, but was staunchly against it because of the density. The developer, Tim Hernandez of New Urban Communities, which is under contract to build the project for a client which owns the property, wants to build 16 townhouses on 0.8 acres at 549 NE 21 Ct., behind the Gables Wilton Park. Hernandez, who was the developer for the Belle Isle mixed-use property on Wilton Drive, stated he has a budget of $5 to $6 million for the project. At the meeting, Hernandez asked commissioners to rezone the property from RM 16 to PUD. He also asked for 12 flex units, which would allow him to bypass the city’s density restrictions. Under the city’s code, Hernandez could only build a maximum of four units on a property that size.
“I’m not aware of any city that allows a PUD for anything less than an acre,” Resnick said. “I just think it’s too dense. I would never vote for 12.” Some of the members of the public who spoke at the meeting also said they had a problem with the density. But there were those who also asked the commission to approve it. Hernandez told commissioners that a higher density project so close to Wilton Drive would be a benefit to the businesses. “That’s a good thing,” he said. Newton suggested that the project should be reduced by two units. Green suggested 9 flex units. Flippen gave no specific number but stated he wasn’t in favor of 12 flex units being awarded. He also stated that this project “underscores the inconsistencies in the city’s code.” WMG
Tim Hernandez of New Urban Communities.
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