The developers of Miami Freedom Park, that real estate complex that comes with a soccer stadium on the grounds of what once was the Melreese Golf Course, want to get out of the $20 million they once promised to spend upgrading and enhancing city parks as part of its sweet deal approved in 2022.
And they got Mayor Francis Suarez to do their dirty work.
Suarez has proposed the establishment of a new special revenue account titled “Park Fund for Miami Freedom Park,” that would use allocated funds exclusively for improvements and maintenance of the 58 acre pubic park” that is part of the complex to be developed by Miami Freedom Park, LLC, which is basically David Beckham and brothers Jorge and Jose Mas, who also own the Inter Miami team. The city said that MFP has already made the first of two $10 million payments for this new special account.
Oh, so special.
Suarez is going to ask Miami Commissioners to let MFP off the hook at Thursday’s meeting. This comes about month after the city put the developers on notice for not paying the second half of their promised park funding and withheld the master permit for the site of the $1 billion development, a retail and office park with restaurants, a 750-room hotel and, oh yeah, a 25,000-seat stadium that will host games for the Inter Miami team.
Read related: Miami Freedom Park scores yes vote for massive stadium real estate complex
This is a bait and switch. Because the development agreement reached in April 2022 in a historic vote for a 99-year lease stipulated that the developers would donate $20 million to be used “for improvements to public parks or acquisition of public parks within the city of Miami.” Not for Miami Freedom Park, but other parks citywide. Commissioner Joe Carollo asked for that. Of the $25 million given to the city in exchange for the pleasure of developing the property and making millions of dollars, $20 million would go to city parks and $5 million would go to the Baywalk on the Miami River and Biscayne Bay.
At least that is what everybody thought. These were even campaign promises made for the referendum vote in 2018 where voters gave the city the green light to begin negotiations. These park improvement funds were one of the alleged public benefits.
Now the $20 million is going to their own project?

What’s next? Maybe they don’t want to make the park 58 acres. Maybe it’s good enough at 35 acres.
Maybe they won’t create 15,000 “direct or indirect jobs” (minus the dozen lobbyists) or the 2,000 permanent jobs that were promised. That was just a ballpark figure.
Maybe they won’t be able to pay the $4.3 million in annual guaranteed rent. I mean, the economy, right?
Read related: Marlins Park’s David Samson: Miami Freedom Park is a ‘billion dollar heist’
These were some of the other things that were promised when the Miami Freedom Park developers were trying to get the deal. They even said they would bear all the costs of maintaining the roads, lights, sidewalks and benches at the new 58-acre park it would pay to build. Now they want their $20 million back to do it.
Back then, Jorge Mas said there was  “no public subsidy” — even though developers did get an $8 million state grant for infrastructure last year.
“There is significant economic benefit from tax revenue and new jobs,” Mas said at the April 2022 meeting “And I have to deliver the public benefits first.”
Before or after he takes back the $20 million he promised?
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Despite pleas from two municipal mayors and the executive director of the Miami-Dade County League of Cities to defer the decision, the five Miami-Dade County commissioners on the policy council moved forward a proposal to put a five-year moratorium on any new annexation or incorporation applications of unincorporated industrial or commercially zoned areas to preserve tax funds and, thus, services.
Two pending annexation applications from Doral and one from Florida City will be exempt. Also exempt: an incorporation application in Northwest Dade.
Oh, and any annexations of single family areas. This is only for commercial and industrial zones.
“Why isn’t anybody talking about the residential areas? Why? Because they cost more to service,” said Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, who sponsored the item, which now goes to the full commission for final approval. “They want to cherry pick the areas that produce revenue.”
Read related: Coral Gables cancels annexation efforts for Little Gables after public vote
Virginia Gardens Councilman Richard Block said their town should also be exempt because of attempts for 20 years to annex 450 acres just west of Miami International Airport, a process he called a “merry-go-round.” He mentioned other cities that have incorporated or annexed in those years and wondered if it’s because Virginia Gardens is a tiny square mile area with about 2,100 residents. In 2022, the county’s planning and zoning board recommended approval of the proposed annexation.
“All these other people got their brass ring and they got their annexations rammed through. We got stymied,” Block said. “We gotta be exempted from this ordinance and we gotta have an up or down vote.”
Miami Springs Mayor Maria Puente Mitchell asked for a deferral so the electeds in all 34 municipalities had “time to digest” the ordinance. “It came about very quickly and I don’t understand the rush.” She and others said there was no emergency. “It’s either a moratorium for all cities, or none at all,” Puente Mitchell said.
Sweetwater Mayor Jose “Pepe” Diaz, once a county commissioner not too long ago, said he understood how the county works but asked for a deferral so that there could be more clarity and understanding of the ramifications.
“We’re all good friends and we’re all trying to find solutions for our future,” Diaz said, asking the policy council not to “fast track” it.
Well, maybe they’re not such good friends.
“This is not a late filed item. This has been on the agenda for a week,” said Commission and Council Chairman Anthony Rodriguez. “If you guys didn’t catch it ’til Friday, I mean, then, lobby up. I don’t know.”
That could sound like the chairman is basically telling people to go through a gatekeeper.
Cabrera, who sponsored the item, said all the proper notice had been made and that it was an emergency because of the budget shortfall the county could be facing for the next five years, in part due to the establishment of the constitutional offices. “It’s a financial emergency,” he said, mentioning an item that passed the commission meeting last week to hire a consultant that would identify efficiencies and cost savings in different departments.
“We’re at a pivotal point in time with the constitutional offices being added,” Cabrera said. “If we continue to allow these areas that support these services, not support these services, what are we going to do?”
Read related: Javier Souto pulls back Westchester incorporation post resident pushback
He cited a memo from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava dated last July that says the proposed annexations of industrial and commercial zones “create significant financial impact” that could lead to adjusted services. “And adjusted services means less services,” Cabrera said.
Additionally, straw polls in both Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens indicated that a majority of the business owners and commercial property owners did not want to be annexed, Cabrera said. Business and property owners west of the MIA zone protested the proposed annexation into Virginia Gardens in January of 2023.
“Why should we raise taxes on small businesses to fund government that is out of control,” Cabrera said. “It’s not those small business fault that your millage rate is through the roof. Why don’t you review your finances.”
“Ultimately, a lot of these are land grabs,” Cabrera said.
Tough talk from someone who is going to be vacating that seat soon for an ambassadorship to Panama.

“A lot of people said they haven’t had time to digest this. It’s eight pages. It’s very simple. Unless its an exclusively residential area, there is a moratorium on annexations. It’s not that hard. If you and all the lawyers and all the members and all the city attorneys, village attorneys, town attorneys can’t figure out eight pages in more than a week, then I don’t know what to tell you, that’s very concerning.”
He saved his harshest words for Diaz.
“Mr. Diaz I know has called everybody under the moon, has not called me, the sponsor of the item. For somebody who says he has a lot of experience in county government, that’s kind of concerning,” Cabrera said. “And when he talks about process… it seems he has short term memory. In 2021, when he rammed through his annexations, which that was a ramming through, committee was waived and then he used his superpowers that is for emergencies related to Covid.”
Read related: Sweetwater annexation adds to tax rolls as Jose “Pepe” Diaz eyes mayor’s seat
“So if we want to talk about process, process was definitely not followed.”
He also reminded Diaz that he had voted in favor of two earlier moratoriums in 2005 and 2007.
“And those were about land grabs. This is because of financial issues,” Cabrera said. “We are protecting the county taxpayer.”
He said the five year term was necessary because the future of the constitutional offices and their costs are still unknown.
Commissioner Rene Garcia said he has always thought the county should all be incorporated and the county commission could just work on regional issues. But he supported the measure because of the uncertainty of future revenues and costs.
“It is a financial crisis, a financial issue that we have that we don’t know what it’s going to look like,” Garcia said.
 
 
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After several months of holding the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency hostage, Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela — who has pushed for its expansion into Allapattah, the heart of his District 1 — looks like he is ready to compromise with a CRA all his own.
Miami Commissioners last month directed City Manager Art Noriega to expedite the establishment of an Allapattah Community Redevelopment Agency and secure funding so that they can begin “priority projects” by the end of February. The proposed boundaries are Northwest 39th Street to the north, Northwest 19th Avenue to the west, Northwest Seventh Avenue to the east and the Miami River to the south.
Read related: Fight over Omni CRA causes new rifts, alliances on Miami City Commission
Commissioner Damian Pardo, who has been fighting to keep the current Omni CRA boundaries, get an extension on its life and create a separate Allapattah CRA, must be smiling ear to ear. He’s also putting his money where his mouth is. Pardo wants the city manager to find a way to “claw back” $2 million in tax increment funding a year, for the next five years, from the Omni CRA to be directed for capital improvements, infrastructure repairs/enhancements and affordable housing projects in Allapattah. It’s on Thursday’s agenda.
That’s guaranteed seed money of $10 million that can be leveraged to get more.

Will Gabela go for it? He has previously said help like that is too little, too slow and that he wants to leverage the future TIF monies an expanded Omni CRA could generate for Allapattah. Will $10 million cut it?

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Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo is defending himself against another civil lawsuit, this time from two former employees of the Bayfront Park Management Trust who say they were forced to resign after they uncovered, and reported, inadequate accounting methods and questionable expenses. In their whistleblower complaint, filed last month, former executive director Jose Suarez, a longtime Carollo ally, and ex finance director Jose Canto allege that Carollo used the Trust to benefit friends and get kickbacks on overpriced and unnecessary deals.
Well, he’s not really defending himself. Carollo will once again be defended by former City Attorney Victoria Mendez, who is now in private practice, and former Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who has defended Carollo before. Both work at Shutts & Bowen. Mendez joined last fall after she was unceremoniously fired from her post (read: allowed her to resign).
Ladra bets this is not what the commission had in mind when they let Tricky Vicky go.
Read related: Fired Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez gets new gig at big firm, award
Commissioner Miguel Gabela, one of the architects of Mendez’s exit, is again bringing up a proposal to suspend any upfront payments of legal fees for elected officials “in certain cases,” providing for a review of future cases that require outside council due to conflicts of interest. It’s been continued twice and deferred once since he first put it on the agenda in November.
It’s on the agenda again for Thursday’s meeting.
But it’s something Gabela also brought up quickly in March of last year, only four months after winning his election, beating former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla after the latter was arrested on public corruption charges and suspended from office (the case has since been dropped by the Broward State Attorney’s Office). Back then, Gabela wanted to stop payments to lawyer Benedict Kuehne, asserting a conflict of interest because he is retained to represent the city and commissioners and also suing Gabela and the city on behalf of Diaz de la Portilla, who wanted to disqualify Gabela on residency.
Read related: Miami Commissioner Miguel Gabela wants to slow the city’s legal spending
According to a complaint filed in federal court last year by QBE Specialty Insurance Company, a firm that provides legal insurance coverage for municipalities, Carollo’s legal defense costs — mostly spurring from the First Amendment violation lawsuit he lost against two Little Havana businessmen — had already exceeded $10 million.
 
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With no discussion or debate Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Commission approved the spending of more than $41 million for a new fleet of vehicles this year. Only Commissioners Micky Steinberg and Rene Garcia voted against it.
The rest of the commission voted to approve the purchase of 580 vehicles.
Miami-Dade County considers a vehicle ready for replacement it’s either 10 years old or has over 100,000 miles on it. Departments are supposed to look for replacements that could be “reallocated” from within the county’s inventory first.
“Repair history, age and mileage are also reviewed to ensure that replacement is more economical than repairing and maintaining a vehicle that is past its life cycle. Maintaining vehicles over 10+ years and/or over 100,000 miles can generate average annual maintenance costs in excess of $3,000 for light vehicles and $17,700 for heavy vehicles when compared to newer vehicles which are under manufacturer’s warranty for major repairs.”
Okay. But that means that if all 580 cars being replaced need maintenance at the heavy vehicle cost, it would still only be $10.2 million, instead of $41 million.
Read related: Miami-Dade Commission considers land buy near airport for $17 million

“The vehicles requested will be used to support various essential operations that service the Miami-Dade County community, to include water distribution and processing, police operations support and training, materials management, building and facility maintenance, community outreach programs, zoning enforcement and other related operational support activities that provide countywide services. The requested allocation will be used by departments as follows:

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