Effort to dissolve Miami DDA cites ‘bloated’ salaries, redundancy, UFC gift

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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