The Miami Downtown Development Authority, an entity that was formed in 1967 to promote the urban core and bring development, has a budget of $13.5 million through a special tax levy on properties within its district boundaries in downtown, Brickell and Edgewater. About a quarter of that is on salaries, some of which seem excessive and redundant.
This has some people talking about dissolving the agency and one downtown activist calling for a November referendum if the city commission won’t do it.
One example of redundant salaries cited is a total of six people working in-house marketing and public relations functions for a total of more than $640,000 in salaries and benefits:

Head of marketing and communications — $157,091
Marketing advisor — $123,203
Marketing department “collaborator” — $53,539
Content contributor — $82,195
Public information officer — 91,957
Brand integrity expert — $134,662

And the DDA also has one of the state’s top public relations firms on retainer for another $175K a year.
Isn’t that a little redundant?
Read related: Miami DDA gives UFC $100K for event, despite protest from downtowners
That’s more than $800,000 on marketing and communications, a lot of investment in PR. And, yet, Ladra has never seen any promotion to bring suburbanites downtown, which seems like low-hanging fruit.
What’s a “brand integrity expert” anyway? Why is that needed for downtown redevelopment advocacy?
The redundancy seems to be a theme.
There is a head of urban planning pulling in $177,143 and an urban planning strategist making $107,261. But all urban planning and zoning decisions are made by the city commission through the planning and zoning board. And there are two “enhanced services coordinator” positions — one at $100,692 and another at $89,787 — as well as a head of enhanced services and government affairs making $116,711. There is also a business and grants expert ($104,425), an “office and finance expert” ($106,137), a business development advisor ($107132), a “strategic partnership specialist” ($121,567) and a chief of economic and development strategy ($205,326).
These seemingly redundant salaries are one of the arguments being made by Downtown Neighbors Association President James Torres, who did a public records request for the budget and salaries (posted above) after the agency gave $100,000 to the UFC for events at the Kaseya Center next month. The taxpayer giveaway is what set Torres off and led to his push to dissolve the agency he says is taking advantage of downtown property owners.
At the very least, Torres says, the residents should stop being taxed. The city commission could establish a business district, like in Wynwood, where only the commercial property owners would be taxed for the DDA services. “The residents are paying 58% of this tax,” Torres told Political Cortadito. “If it was truly for the benefit of residents, okay. But there are no discount cards. We have to hire a third party contract for our trash pick up.
“Residents want a divorce,” Torres said.
Read related: Op Ed by DNA President James Torres: Miami doesn’t need a DDA anymore
But DDA Director Christina Crespi says the marriage is strong and that the DDA has evolved over the years.
Fresh from a meeting to discuss efforts to mitigate the upcoming Ultra musical festival — coordination of traffic, communication to residents, working with the county to have the MetroMover open later — Crespi told Political Cortadito that the agency does a lot for the residents and businesses of the area. She cited the freebie circulator, the permit clinic, the downtown enhancement team of former homeless individuals staffing bathrooms at the park, the graffiti clean up (850 incidents of graffiti just this month, she added), the landscaping additions, pressure washing, the urban planning on Flagler Street, which included getting the law changed so bars could stay open longer, and a host of events.
They raise federal dollars, she said, adding that they secured $31 million for the Flagler Street project. And the agency is about to propose a design for a pedestrian bridge under I-95 to connect the the museum park to the north side, the former Miami Herald property. They’ve launched a 3D development pipeline interactive map on their website to keep people informed of construction projects in real time, Crespi said.
But “the real focus is economic development,” she added, justifying the large PR staff and outside contract. “We are marketing downtown globally,” Crespi told Ladra, adding that there are 65,000 followers on their Instagram account. “We provide day-to-day info to residents, create content to promote businesses, incentivize new businesses,” she said.
Of course, she gets paid $265,150 in salary and benefits to say that.

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Miami voters could say no to political retreads or professional politicians by extending term limits this November.
City Commissioner Damian Pardo wants to put a charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot so that elected officials who have served on the commission or as mayor for two terms cannot come back and run for office after a break. Like zombie politicos.
Currently, term limits in Miami are only for consecutive terms. That’s why Commissioner Joe Carollo, who was mayor from 1996 to 2001, can run again this year. Mayor Francis Suarez could, technically, sit this term out and run again in 2027. Former Mayor Tomas Regalado could run again, though he won’t want to now he’s Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. Former Commissioners Willy Gort, Frank Carollo — who is widely rumored to be looking at another District 3 run to take over what is now the “Carollo seat” — and Marc Sarnoff (gasp!) could run for commission again.
But not if voters amend the city charter to establish that anyone who has already served two terms, at any time, is ineligible to run for the same office again, “during their lifetime.” Pardo is sponsoring a resolution a Tuesday’s meeting that would direct the city attorney’s office to prepare the amendment for the Nov. 4 ballot where alongside the mayoral race and contests for commission districts 3 and 5. And District 4 if Commissioner Manolo Reyes runs for mayor, as expected.
Read related: Long list of potential 2025 Miami mayoral candidates starts to take form
Neither Carollo nor Reyes have officially announced or filed any paperwork with the city clerk’s office. Yet.
Is Pardo targeting Carollo, who he has been butting heads with on the commission since he was elected in 2023? Carollo thinks so. But Pardo said it is absolutely not.

“Nobody knows what he’s going to do,” Pardo said. “He keeps saying he’s going to go to Shangri-La. He wanted an appointment with the Trump administration. This is not about Joe Carollo.”
Pardo said it is about opening the city up to new people and ideas and points at how term limits have changed the leadership in Miami-Dade. “We’re looking at a whole new set of commissioners that came in,” he told Political Cortadito. “It changes the entire dynamic.”
The city’s own commission could be an example of how non establishment electeds can shake things up with the change made since Pardo and Commissioner Miguel Gabela, neither of whom have been in office before now, were elected in 2023.
“Miami residents have waited long enough for real change in our city government,” Pardo said in a statement, adding that the legislation “limits the participation of career politicians entrenched in City politics.
“We are committed to a more representative government that advocates for its residents’ interests,” Pardo said. “Holding public office should be about public service, not self-interest or monied interests. This legislation guarantees that our government remains as dynamic, responsive, and accountable as possible. We are ushering in a new era of transformational leadership and democracy in the Magic City—one in which public service is a privilege, not an entitlement.
“We are proud to introduce this measure and look forward to residents making their voices heard in the November general election.”
Read related: 2025 Miami Commission contests could be battles between some known names
All it has to do is get three votes on the commission next week, or two other votes aside from Pardo. Ladra suspects that Gabela will be supportive. And Reyes might want a safety net to take Carollo out if he wins the mayor’s race. But is his vote a conflict of interest? King is out. Not just because she does Carollo’s bidding, but because she honestly thinks that elections are the true expression of term limits.
If they approve next week’s measure, the city attorney’s office will still have to come back within 120 days to get the ballot language approved by September 5 to make it onto the November ballot.
Ladra suspects that, if it gets on the ballot, the amendment will win with an overwhelming majority. Nearly 70% of Miami Beach voters passed a similar measure in 2014, creating “lifetime term limits” for their electeds. It’s why commissioner Michael Gongora was blocked by a judge from running for re-election in 2021.
The amendment, if passed would be retroactive, which means that Carollo, if elected, would be de facto ousted from office. Any Carollo, actually, because if the commissioner’s brother Frank decides to come back and wins, that election would also be invalidated. Pardo said the seat could go to whoever came in second in the race — but he doesn’t really know.
Ladra says there will be lawsuits.
Candidates would be made aware of this at the time they qualify and voters would also be made aware that there are candidates who might be invalidated if the amendment passes. Basically, that they risk throwing their vote away if they cast it for a Carollo.
That makes for a good campaign slogan.
The post Voters in Miami may be asked to extend term limits and ban political retreads appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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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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The controversial and massive changes to Miami’s tree ordinance — which regulates the removal and pruning of trees — are seemingly unnecessary and, worse, directed by the development industry, which taints the legislation. Everyone knows that Commissioner Miguel Gabela, the dope they roped to sponsor this, is going to defer the vote at Thursday’s commission meeting.
Perhaps the existing ordinance could be tweaked a little, but this particular version of the legislation should be withdrawn (read: burned in a bonfire) because it appears, from public meetings and emails first made public by WLRN, that it has been specifically tailored to meet the needs of developers and the building industry.
Dozens of people spoke at the sunshine meeting called by Commissioner Damian Pardo last week, almost unanimously against the measure which is meant to streamline the permitting process for homeowners who want to remove trees from their property. But two people spoke in favor: Truly Burton, executive vice president of the Builders Association of South Florida, and lobbyist Melissa Tapanes Llahues, BASF president and longtime board member, and a frequent representative for many big developers.
Tapanes Llahues got up and almost spoke out of turn. She thinks she’s special. Pardo told her to wait until it was time for her to speak.
Burton said she was there to “clarify misinformation” because “neither the Builders Association of South Florida or anyone else on my board has colluded… on this item.”
Tapanes Llahues said she was there as a Coconut Grove homeowner and that she takes many cases pro-bono. That might be true, but she could also have a vested interest in those cases, like she has here. And she was very defensive about her involvement, which, again, has been documented in emails.
“The Builders Association of South Florida, myself included, learned of this ordinance when it appeared on the agenda,” she said, calling those who think she was lobbying without registering ignorant.
“We all want to protect the tree canopy,” Tapanes Llahues said. “Developers, builders, they plant these trees. Just like they build homes, they build schools, they build hospitals, they build our community.”
It was the second time, at least, that Tapanes made comments on behalf of the developers and in favor of the ordinance. At the commission meeting where this was discussed in December, Tapanes thanked Gabela for working with them on it.
“I’d like to just say that Commissioner Gabela has been working with the industry,” Tapanes said at the meeting. “We’re working with the commissioners’ office to make it reasonable for both developers and property owners.”
Caught with his political pants down, Gabela told WLRN that he had not spoken to Tapanes or any developers about the tree ordinance. “There is no collusion here, let me make it clear. I did not ask them to come. I haven’t had any conversation pertaining to the tree ordinance with Melissa Tapanes.”
Read related: Don’t live in Miami? Commissioner Joe Carollo says your opinion don’t matter
But the emails from Tapanes and the Builders Association to his staff show that there has been some collaboration. And Tapanes was not registered to lobby for the tree ordinance during this email exchange. It was only the day of the Dec. 12 meeting that she registered as a lobbyist after speaking at the meeting. The registration was not stamped by the clerk’s office til Dec. 16.
The industry’s involvement should cause everyone pause. Even more pause should be given to the fact that the ordinance changes don’t seem to be necessary. Gabela and city officials say they are trying to make it easier for homesteaded property owners to remove trees that can block the addition of a pool or circular driveway. Well, that can be done on a case-by-case basis without making blanket changes that allow developers to remove trees with impunity. Any homeowner who is about to sell could, under the proposed changes, clear the lot, making it more valuable to developers who can build with a larger footprint.
Several citizens who spoke said the real problem was with permitting and code enforcement to address the people who call cousin Robertico or Manolito to cut their trees at midnight on Sunday, like Pardo says happens all the time. Some people said code enforcement had to work harder and penalties should be higher.
The 28 pages of changes are confusing and seem to allow for too much tree removal, residents agreed. They almost unanimously took exception to a change that allows a landscape architect, rather than an arborist, inspect and make the determination on a tree’s viability.
“There are so many things that have been deleted… which makes the ordinance a little loose, and I think it has to be tight,” said Debbie Dolson. “You can’t leave places for loopholes.”

Cristina Colon, a biology professor, said the city was creating a “slippery slope” in favor of development. “A landscape architect does not have the training of knowledge of an arborist. “This is tantamount to saying if you need a root canal, you can have it done by your dentist or by the receptionist.”
The ordinance already allows for 25% pruning and there are hardship exemptions already available. Morningside activist Sandy Moise said she had asked the city for how many hardships had been applied for. No answer.
“The public has lost trust,” Moise said at last week’s sunshine meeting. “It feels shady,” she said of the ordinance changes.
Read related: Coconut Grove residents are ignored as Miami carves up D2 in redistricting
Political Cortadito called Assistant Building Director Jose Regalado, brother of the county commissioner, and emailed him and Building Director Ed Santamaria (former assistant city manger in Coral Gables) to ask how the tree fund dollars, paid mostly by developers who are allowed to remove trees, had collected and where those dollars have gone. No answer.
But the changes to the ordinance include a diversion of those dollars to the general fund — 50% the first year and 20% each year after that.
At last week’s sunshine meeting, Regalado said that the “main purpose of this was to simplify the process for residents and businesses” and that the majority of changes were to add exemptions in the Miami-Dade County code. He also said that in the past five years, 8,310 trees had been removed, 12,312 had been planted and another 1,676 had been relocated. These figures did not, however, include trees planted in the right of way or through the tree trust fund.
There are a lot of unknowns and this new ordinance is just not ready.
A group of 19 residents signed a letter to commissioners this week, asking them to completely withdraw the item until more work could be done.
“This agenda item, developed by the Building Department with input from the developer community, represents deeply flawed legislation that will significantly weaken protections for our trees and undermine Miami’s vital tree canopy. The current Tree Ordinance is not the issue. The problems lie in its implementation. Addressing these issues through proper management and operations is the real solution to improving outcomes for both residents and the environment.”
Specifically, they recommended addressing inefficiencies and delays in the permitting process that apply not only to tree removals but other needs, simplifying the process to apply for existing hardship exemptions and eliminating the $1.500 appeal fee for residents.
“Weakening the Tree Ordinance at a time when Miami’s tree canopy averages just 17-18% citywide — far short of the 30% goal set in 2009 — is both irresponsible and contrary to the best interests of residents. Trees are essential for combating extreme heat, reducing flooding, improving air quality, and enhancing property values. The proposed changes prioritize developers at the expense of Miami’s long-term sustainability and livability for its residents.”
The residents feel that deferring the item over and over again is just a political tactic meant to wear the public out, in hopes that they stop resisting and showing up to the meetings.

“Enough is enough,” said Downtown Neighbors Association President James Torres. “Public records reveal that lobbyists and developers are leading the way in crafting this ordinance. The endless deferrals are not about improving the proposal—they’re about wearing down residents who are fighting to protect Miami’s tree canopy.”
Read related: Judge dismisses amended corruption complaint against Miami’s ADLP
If there is a deferral, they request a six-month deferral to study the inefficiencies and challenges and create a working group of stakeholders to include the Miami Climate Resilience Committee  — which has recommended denial of the changes — and the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board as well as certified arborists, non-profits and county officials.
“We remind you that you were elected to represent the residents of the City of Miami. The overwhelming feedback from your constituents is clear: withdraw this agenda item and focus on strengthening, not weakening, protections for our vital tree canopy,” the letter ends. “Residents of Miami deserve to live in a city where tree-lined streets, shaded neighborhoods, and clean air are the standard, not a privilege reserved for a few. Strengthening the implementation of the existing Tree Ordinance, rather than dismantling it, is the path forward for a healthier, more resilient Miami.
“We hope you will act in the best interest of your constituents and the city we all call home.”
That’s a big ask.
The DNA will join other Miami residents who spoke at the sunshine meeting and representatives of environmental groups like the Sierra Club at City Hall Thursday morning for a press conference to challenge the changes in advance of the meeting.
The post Miami tree removal ordinance changes unnecessary and tainted by lobbyists appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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The first city of Miami budget hearing on Saturday was dominated by a plea from the community to increase police patrols, especially in the Downtown Miami area and marine officers on the Miami River. But the discussion on the dais was dominated by the growing tension between District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo and commissioners Miguel Gabela and Joe Carollo, who seem to have formed an alliance.

Ew.

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Residents continue lawsuit to block amendment

Voters in the city of Miami voted yes down the line to three referendums on the Aug. 20 ballot. The first two questions will replace the city’s auditor general with a new office of inspector general, which has broader investigative powers. More on how that office will work later.

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