Laughable traffic study should be thrown out

Anti-development activists against recent upzoning in Coral Gables lost in last month’s elections when every single one of their candidates got beat in their respective races, including former Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick who lost the mayoral bid to former Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli by 187 votes.

Now, they may lose again on Tuesday, when commissioners are set to take the final vote on a controversial development near the historic Coral Gables Elementary School that wants variances to more than double the allowed density.

It will be the first real test for the new commission on the issue that defined the election. 

Read related story: Mike Mena (read: developers) win Gables race, as expected

The 33 Alhambra project will raze a number of two-story apartment buildings along Navarre and Minorca avenues, Galian Street and Alhambra Circle and replace them with a mixed-use complex with retail and residential rental units in 10 floors. It got approved 4-1 at first reading in December. Want to guess who was the sole dissenter? The answer is Slesnick, who isn’t there anymore. That might be why the lawyer for the developer asked to table the second hearing last January, after more than 60 people showed up to speak against it. Attorney Zeke Guilford asked for time to see if the developer could make some compromises to address community concerns, but it’s obvious they were just stalling until after the election. It’s not a coincidence it’s coming up at the second meeting since. Because the compromise they’ve come back with is hardly really a compromise.

Maybe it’s even a bait and switch. Maybe the plan was always for 146 units, which is still more than twice the 56 allowed under current zoning guidelines. By giving the inflated 184 originally in the plans, this may seem like a relief to some. But not to all. 

Residents have signed a petition saying it’s still too big. They are expected to show up. And that’s why the city is having this item at 5 p.m. time certain instead of during the day, to facilitate the working class families that live around there who are upset about the disingenuous “compromise” and who want to balk publicly at the traffic study that says the project will only bring 58 new car trips during the morning. Laughable.

Read related story: In Coral Gables election, only a sweep will change the course

Ladra suspects that this new commission — what? With a land use attorney on it and all — is poised to approve this project, even thought it will dwarf the two story historic elementary school and cast a shadow as well as a traffic nightmare on that whole neighborhood and even though they will hear from dozens of residents who will beg them to reconsider.

But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. They did the right thing by moving this discussion to 5 p.m. Perhaps they will do the right thing and force the developer to downsize even further. Certainly twice the number of units normallly allowed should still be a win, no? Instead of trying to maximize their profits with efficiencies and one bedrooms, maybe they could increase the number of two-bedroom units in what is a desireable neighborhood for young families and bring the size down? 

At the very least Coral Gables Commissioners should demand a valid traffic study that might give them more gravitas when they approve this, as well as grounds for some impact fees to pay for more police officers, since there’s such a shortage.

Because taking this traffic study at face value will show us that developers really did win in last month’s elections. 

Even before the next campaign report is due next week, Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco passed the half million dollar mark in his quest to become the city’s next mayor. Last month’s campaign finance report shows $41,575 brought in April for a total warchest of $500,942.

But almost 10 percent of that comes from a real estate investor who supported higher zoning in North Beach and may want to gentrify several blocks of South Beach around Flamingo Park.

Adam Walker, who has given Grieco at least $40,400 bundled through his company, Boardwalk Properties, and 40 other related firms, bought 15 aging, low- and moderate-rent Art Deco apartment buildings in South Beach for $59 million last year and immediately raised rents 50 percent to force working people out and cater to a more affluent clientele.

Read related story: Dan Gelber raises mayoral money fast, and spends it fast

“It’s true that instead of having taxi drivers and sous chefs, you’ll end up with younger attorneys, people who work in the Design District, people who work downtown,” Walker told the Miami Herald . “These are people who drive Porsches and are drawn to Miami Beach but don’t want to live in high rises.”

In a February, 2016, letter to the editor of the Miami Herald, Grieco — who is running for mayor against former Sen. Den Gelber, who has raised $361,519 and much of it from outside the city — defended workforce housing, saying that he and Commissioner Joy Malakoff had made efforts to preserve and increase it. But he told Ladra recently that what Walker did was invest in improvements to restore, even save Art Deco buildings that have long been neglected.

Meanwhile, Walker has been known to neglect his own properties. State records show that buildings his mulitple companies owns have, collectively, received dozens of violations since 2012 for such things as holes in the ceiling, holes in the wall, discarded appliances outside, cockroaches, and a failure to display balcony inpsections more than once, just for starters.

Miami-Dade Court records also show he’s filed paperwork to evict tenants 112 times since 2014. Grieco better hope they’re not still city voters.

“He supports me for the same reason anybody else supports me, because he likes what I am doing for Miami Beach,” Grieco told Ladra, questioning why I would even bring this up (because it’s the biggest case of bundling by far).

“He’s doing a good thing saving those buildings. He’s making a big investment,” Grieco said about Walker.

Yes, and the $40,000 given to the mayoral campaign can also be seen as an investment. In what?

“Good government,” Grieco said.

Did you have a nice, loooong weekend? Well, just because it’s a shorter week doesn’t meant there’s not a lot going on.

The cities of Miami and Coral Gables have some controversial items this week sure to pack their respective city halls while South Miami has a dejavu on affordable housing and the county has another one of those “we love soccer” meetings about a proposed stadium in Overtown. We also have yet another march downtown. This one is family friendly!

No, it’s not a typo. I got no notice from the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club meeting in Miami Beach. Maye they are skipping this week?

And since when did Saturday become a day to do political stuff? No, really. Please stop that.

Got an event for the calendar on a normal day of the week? Get me the 411 on your 305 government and club meetings, campaign fundraisers and political powwows and get in the calendar. It’s easy. Send an email to edevalle@gmail.com or invite me on Facebook or hit me up on twitter like some of these people did.

TUESDAY — May 30

9 a.m. — There is going to be a lot of upset residents at Coral Gables City Hall Tuesday. Not only is there going to be a 2 p.m. time-certain discussion item on the commission meeting agenda, thanks to Commissioner Vince Lago, about the police major who spied on resident Maria Cruz during a commission meeting in September — will Maj. Theresa Molina be fired or will she pass go and collect $100,000 and a really fat pension for the rest of her life — there may also be talk about the police shortages and a 5 p.m. time-certain second vote on the controversial 33 Alhambra development that seems to have made some cuts in units and parking, but which nearby residents still don’t want. If you want a seat, get there early. Or you’ll be watching on the TVs outside the commission chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way.

10 a.m. — After deferring it last week, Miaim City Commissioners will consider taking Watson Island back from a developer that promised 16 years ago to turn it into a hotel/retail destination with parking and a marina. Commissioner Ken Russell believes that the developer has missed a deadline earlier this month to start construction. Some city staffers say they did enough to meet that standard. It will certainly make for an interesting discussion as there are a group of Venetian Island residents opposed to the development. They and State Rep. David Richardson wants the process to start over. And maybe it should, considering it was made 16 years ago! The special meeting begins at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive.

6 p.m. — The city of South Miami may finally be moving along on the long-promised Madison Square affordable housing project along Southwest 59th Place at 64th Street, next to the St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church. The South Miami Community Redevelopment Agency will consider transmitting the proposal with a variance for four stories rather than the maximum two and another variance for reduced parking. This has been talked about for years but has been held up by one thing or another. In 2015, the original contractor cancelled its contract with the city over delays in getting the necessary variances. Will we see a dejavu on Tuesday? The project now has been divided into two, the East and the West parts. The CRA will also consider two unity of titles for the 15 properties involved. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in commission chambers at City Hall, 6130 Sunset Drive.

WEDNESDAY — May 31

2 p.m. — An update on the SMART mass transit plan for Miami-Dade is coming up at Wednesday’s Transportation Planning Organization’s Transportation and Mobility Committee meeting. County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz will ask the committee to amend the plan to extend the bus express rapid transit (BERT) corridor limits of the Florida Turnpike Express. There will also be presentations on the Miami River tunnel feasability study and on the Miami-Dade Quick Build Program. The meeting begins at 2 p.m. in Miami-Dade commission chambers at 111 NW First St.

6:30-8 p.m. — The city of Miami Beach will have a community meeting on the kayak launch project planned for the waterway north of 73rd Street and west of Dickens Avenue, which will take about two months to build and will not affect the community garden. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the North Shore Park and Youth Center, 501 72nd Street.

THURSDAY — June 1

8:30 a.m. — The Mayor’s North Beach Plan Steering Committee meets at 8:30 a.m. at the Normandy Shores Golf Club, 2401 Biarritz Drive. Ladra doesn’t know where to get an agenda but this group is on a roll. Most recently, and at the behest of Commissioner Ricky Arriola, the committee has been pushing to get a version of Wynwood Yard, an outdoor venue in the popular Miami neighborhood with a lot of food truck events and where Shakira gave an impromptu concert the other day, on the city-owned lots across from North Shore Open Space Park. North Beach Yard would be similar to the original concept, but more retail-oriented. There may also be an organic farm for onsite restaurants to use and for locals to buy fresh produce from as well as an artists’ showcase. It would be interesting to see what the committee follows that up with.

6 p.m. — Soccer in Overtown? Some people love the idea. Others hate it. There will be a community discussion on Thursday about the sale of Miami-Dade county owned property in Overtown to David Beckham and partners so they can build the Major League Soccer stadium they have been talking about for years. Miami-Dade “officials” and staff are expected to be at the YWCA, 351 NW 5th St., but the notice on the county website doesn’t specifically say that Mayor Carlos Gimenez will be there. He was at the first one of these community meetings but there are at least two more next week.

SATURDAY — June 3

9 a.m.-1 p.m. — Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo and the town of Miami Lakes will host a family fun day picnic at Picnic Park West, 15151 NW 82nd Ave. There will be a farmer’s market, free rides, music, and raffles.

11 a.m.-2 p.m. — The March for Truth in downtown Miami Saturday has attracted a bunch of politician candidates. Tallahassee Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, perennial candidate (Senate 40 this time) Annette Taddeo, Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez and Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez — both of whom have announced plans to run for Congress next year since Ileana Ros Lehtinen is retiring — will be at the anti-Trump demonstration, organized by a coalition of groups that include Women’s March, Indivisible 305, Indivisible Miami and RiseUp Florida. They demand truth and transparency, including an impartial investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and ties to President Donald Trump and so many of his friends and family. To get people to go, they are also briging food trucks, musical acts and face painting. No joke. Bring the whole family to the political march! Festivities begin at 11 a.m. at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First St.

11 a.m.-2 p.m. — If you don’t know your Hurricane 101 yet, you must not be from around here. The Village of Palmetto Bay is offering a town hall on hurricane preparedness this Saturday at the municipal center, 9705 E. Hibiscus St. And here Ladra thought for sure Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn would be at the march.

Why would Coral Gables administrators go against their own police chief’s recommendation to terminate a major who spied on a resident during a commission meeting — taking a picture of the woman’s text messages and then arguing with her — and try to sweep the whole thing under the rug and let the officer retire instead?

The only reason is that they’re complicit.

That’s why Coral Gables Police Maj. Theresa Molina, who took a cellphone picture or pictures of a resident as she texted a commissioner last September, has been suspended with pay since, collecting more than $80,000 sitting at home doing nothing while the city has conducted, basically, a sham of an internal affairs investigation.

That’s why the city’s cover up, er, I mean investigation has been so, um, lackluster, failing to interview Commissioner Vince Lago, who was the elected that Maria Cruz was texting, other witnesses who were there or even City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark or Assistant City Manager Frank Fernandez, who Molina immediately reported her actions to and for whom we all suspect Molina was spying in the first place.

That’s why Swanson-Rivenbark’s recommendation to the city commissioners is for Molina to be allowed to retire –not today, not tomorrow, not retroactive to September, but in November so as to maximize her pension benefits. She doesn’t have to actually come in and work because she can use accrued sick and vacation time.

Are you kidding me?

So this is why Swanson-Rivenbark — who did not return several calls and emails while on vacation last week — has been dragging her feet in the first place, presenting a recommendation that is 88 pages, with attachments, on a Thursday before Memorial Day weekend. And only because Lago put a discussion item on the agenda about it. Otherwise, Ladra suspects we’d still be waiting for the city manager’s word. See? By waiting, they get closer to the November retirement date that allows Molina to use the rule of 70, which means she can get her pension right away — and at 75% of the average of her highest paid three years (which by the way, includes this year). But if she were fired today, she would have to wait until she was 62 and only collect 60 percent.

So, basically, Molina is rewarded for what she did. They might as well have given her a medal.

Read related story: Gables Police major suspended for spying on resident

Let’s quickly recap what she did for those who forgot or were too busy with the crazy presidential race to pay attention last year:

During a September commission meeting, Molina — a 23-year veteran who was acting chief for a short stint in 2014 — took cellphone photos of text messages that resident Maria Cruz, in the audience with concerns about police shortages, was sending to Commissioner Lago. She was asking him to recognize her and let her speak. After Cruz spoke about the 30-some police vacancies and her issue with the city’s fix — a program where civilian employees and security guards patrol North Gables in fancy golf carts as “eyes and ears” of real police officers — she told Molina to stop watching her.

“Stop texting the commissioners,” Molina actually had the audacity to retort.

Cruz felt like she was back in Castro’s Cuba. Lago was outraged that any resident would be discouraged from texting him. City Attorney Craig Leen even chimed in, telling Cruz she had every right to text anyone she wanted. For more details about what happened that day, go to the related story.

Molina was suspended with pay while IA investigated. Chief Ed Hudak recommended May 1 that she be fired. It took this long because the major who was suspended with pay and was supposed to be home during that time was too busy to be interviewed. Seriously. The final word is Swanson’s, according to the city charter, although really the final word is the city commission’s. Many people expected her to go against Hudak’s recommendation since the city manager’s office has done nothing but undermine the chief since Frank Fernandez was brought onboard (go ahead and send Ladra a cease and desist letter). Hudak did not return several calls from Ladra either.

Read related story: City uses legal muscle to gag Coral Gables activist

Molina’s attorneys have claimed varying defenses. Early on, even before she was interviewed and before the chief’s recommendation, they said he would retaliate against her for five internal affairs investigations she opened on him during the tenure of the three former chiefs. Later, they switched gears and said that this 23-year veteran who was once the top cop for a short while and also headed internal affairs for a bit didn’t know what she was doing was wrong.

Which brings us back to what she was she doing. Or, more specifically, for whom?

Because, c’mon, you don’t think Molina was taking a picture of the resident’s text messages for her own jollies, do you? For her photo gallery? What? She needed new wallpaper? No, of course not. She took the picture for her bosses. For some reason. It was a police-related item she wanted to talk about. She immediately went to show Fernandez, the director of public safety, who instructed her to show Swanson-Rivenbark the photo. Even her attorneys admit this in their first letter.

Is this why neither the city manager nor her right hand man were interviewed for the investigation? Is this why Frank Fernandez provided a written memo, not even a sworn statement? Since when do internal affairs investigators allow a witness to say how he will provide testimony or be interviewed? Since it’s the investigator’s boss, the man he reports to who is saying how he’ll provide testimony? 

Because Ladra believes the city were the ones spying — Molina is just a peon — and that’s why the investigation was so shabby and that’s why Swanson-Rivenbark doesn’t want to fire her. That’s why she’s helping her retire with the maximum pension benefits.

Read related story: Gables city attorney: There can only be one police chief

Lago isn’t going to let it go without some heated reprimands. He is not happy with the investigation or the city manager’s memo, which he said was “embarassing” because it relied on irrelevent justifications by comparing this incident to past sins that Swanson said were worse — trolling for prostitutes, beating your pregnant wife — and on Molina’s 23 years of service, which have not been spotless. 

“We need to break the cycle of the poor examples of the past, which are no excuse,” Lago said. “This behavior is wrong, it is unacceptable, and we need to set a positive example and ensure that the residents are represented. We are here to serve them and we will not compromise on the substance of any wrong, inappropriate behavior.”

More than one source has said that another outside law enforcement agency — the FBI? The SAO? — is looking into the matter. And that is good because this one is really laughable. There are still so many unanswered questions, the main one being what, or who, was Molina spying for? Without an independent investigation, how do we know that the city managers were not involved? And how do we know that this is the only time a city employee has spied on residents — or, dare I say, commissioners — for top administrators? That should have been what Swanson-Rivenbark did from the start if she truly wanted us to believe that it would be objective and transparent.

That would certainly satisfy Maria Cruz, the resident who was spied on who is outraged with this ending.

“This investigation is a farce,” Cruz, in a screenshot here from WPLG-Local 10, told Ladra Friday. “From the beginning I objected to Frank Fernandez having anything to do with the investigation, both he and Cathy. Shouldn’t part of that investigation be why did she [Molina] go to him? Shouldn’t part of the investigation be why did he tell her to go to Cathy Swanson? What did they tell her?

“Their fingerprints are all over this whole thing,” she added. 

Here’s a suggestion for Gables commissioners. Make a deal with Molina. Accept her retirement terms. But only if she spills the beans on what the others knew and when. 

Oh, and maybe make her return the $80,000 she’s gotten paid to be on vacation.

Controversial use of security guards under fire

The election is over, but Coral Gables residents still got a scary, campaign-style flyer in their mailboxes this week that questions the city’s decision to hire security guards to fill the gap of police shortages in the City Beautiful.

“Public safety alert! Your families safety is at stake,” is says on one side, over a photo of three heavilly-armed SWAT-like police officers in front of the Village of Merrick Park, where a gunman killed two people and then himself last month.

“With a rise in crime, we can’t afford any mistakes,” it says, adding that $610,000 “of our tax dollars are being wasted on security guards. Instead of hiring certified police officers to fill the highest vacancy level that our police force has ever seen.”

It then tells residents to call the mayor and commissioners “and tell them to protect our families,” listing their numbers at City Hall.

Read related story: City uses legal muscle to gag Coral Gables activist 

Coral Gables has 22 or 23 official vacancies, but because of officers who are on military duty or on injured leave or special details, the city is really short more than 30 patrol officers. And this drain has been going on for years. Many people in the city and in the department blame Assistant City Manager Frank Fernandez, the director of public safety, who acts como si fuera el police chief and who changed the qualifications for hiring at the city, making it much harder for candidates. Nobody who wants to be a Coral Gables Police officer must be 21, have a bachelor’s degree and can have no more than five traffic tickets in a lifetime, for example. No more than three in the past five years.

The city has repeatedly defended itself by saying that the Gables is holding out for a better caliber officer. But that’s what they also said last year around this time, when there were 17 vacancies and 11 new hires on the horizon. A year later there are at least five more vacancies.

They’ve got to change tactics before they’re down to zero.

The mailers that began to arrive Thursday were paid for by a political action committee called Citizens for a Safe Coral Gables, which is curiously not listed in state or city records. It’s address is a suite (P.O. Box?) across from City Hall.

Oh, and Ladra is pretty sure the three police officers in the picture are city of Miami or county cops who also responded to the Village of Merrick Park scene.

Beause there aren’t enough police officers in Coral Gables.

The Senate seat in District 40 isn’t the only special election seat on the summer ballot. Voters in House District 116 will also pick a replacement for State Rep. Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz, who resigned last seek to run for Senate to replace Frank Artiles, his BFF and roommate, who resigned last month after a racist and sexist tirade about and with colleagues.

On the Republican side, Jose Mallea and Daniel Anthony Perez both started raising money in March. Perez has a respectable $49,790. Mallea, a onetime Marco Rubio campaign worker, raised more than that in the first month and $89,560 so far. And it looks like he has already hit the street, sharing photos of last Saturday’s canvassing on Facebook.

But don’t think it’s a given Republican district, because it’s not. It’s certainly a little more red than the Senate Distict, but the blue team could still gain a seat. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the district in November with just over 51 percent of the vote. What’s more, Donald Trump only got 45 percent. And there’s no Gary Johnson in this race. Not yet anyway.

On Monday, Ross Hancock electronically filed to run for the Democrat spot in the race. “There being no sign that the Dems can scramble anyone for it, I want to stand up for it,” he told Ladra, who hopes he uses the same signs with the Everglades in it.

But he might not be the only one. This has to be an attractive seat for the Dems, who might want to back someone in the special election now that their pick for Senate 40, State Rep. Daisy Baez, bowed out last week after getting caught living outside her district. Ladra can’t imagine that they wouldn’t find someone — or back Hancock.

Speaking of residency, Hancock ran in District 115 last August and in 114 twice. So has he moved?

There is still time. The governor set the election for the same date as the senate race, July 26. But Secretary of State Ken Detzner hasn’t set the qualifying dates for 116 yet. The deadline for the senate race is Tuesday, so it might be by the end of next week.

But it’s not like the Democrats have a fat bench. Not here anyway. The Dems can’t go west of Miami. Notice how many they have waiting in the wings to run to replace Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is retiring next year, and they have nobody yet to run against Congressman Carlos Curbelo.

Unless Annette Taddeo tries again after losing the Senate 40 primary to Ana Rivas Logan. And that’s like having nobody.