Your voice apparently matters. There are several community meetings and charrettes going on in different municipalities asking for the public feedback on important issues or projects.

Anti-development commissioner hosts forum

Coral Gables Commissioner Jeannett Slesnick is hosting a citizens’ forum called “Cranes, codes and collaboration” to discuss the development booming all around the City Beautiful.

Slesnick, who ran on a reduced development campaign and was the sole dissenting vote against the controversial Paseo project on U.S. 1, mailed an invitation to Gables residents to join her from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Thursday, Feb. 18, to talk about promoting smart development, reducing traffic and parking impacts and “advancing community benefits,” which is shorthand for “what’s in it for us.”

You can RSVP to commissionrsvp@coralgables.com or call 305-460-5326 to get more information.

Pat Keon and FIU roll out sea level rise series

The other lady on the Coral Gables dais, Commissioner Patricia Keon, is partnering with FIU to offer a discussion sereries on sea level rise, which the city is trying to address with a community vulnerability assessment to identify our at-risk infrastructure and propose adaptation and mitigation strategies to deal with the projected effects.

As part of an effort to raise awareness among residents and business owners, the series will focus on potential future impacts, public policy implications, climate-responsive design of resistant built infrastructure and much more.

The once-a-month chats begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, at City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way, with Dr. Todd Crowl, director of FIU’s Southeast Environmental Research Center, who will provide an overview of causes and local impacts of sea level rise.

In March, the series moves to the Coral Gables Museum on Aragon Aveue, where Dr. Ryan Stoa will discuss the public policy implications of sustainable development in Florida and in April public policy implications of sustainable development in Florida. In April, FIU students from different schools — architecture, engineering, computer sciences, biology, law and public health — will design resilient and sustainable infrastructure for the future.

And here you thought Coral Gables was all about old houses and canopied streets.

For more information, please visit www.coralgables.com/sustainability or call 305-460-5008.

North Beach charrette invites resident input 

The public has been invited to participate in a three-day charrette process for the future development of North Beach, where residents recently defeated a plan to upzone Ocean Terrace.

Through Wednesday, anytime between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., residents can stop by the design studio at the Byron Carlyle Theatre, 500 71st Steet, to see the plans evolve and provide input. This is a unique opportunity to talk with the design team as ideas are developed.

Some of those early plans will be on display at an “open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday (tonight). Residents and interested parties will be able to review the community input, the draft plans and illustrations and give feedback.

On Thursday, the “work-in-progress presentation” is from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the North Shore Youth Center, 501 72nd Street, where people can see all the work presented so far.

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Coming to a mailbox near you: Absentee ballots for the March 15 presidential primary.

Miami-Dade County Elections Department dropped more than 157,000 ABs in the mail today (Tuesday, Feb. 16) to voters with a request on file. The county encourages these people to be on the lookout for their ballot in the mail.

Ladra encourages Republicans to ignore all the also-rans that are not really in the running anymore but are still on the ballot.

Miami-Dade ballots, like most Florida ballots probably, include candidates like Chris Christie and Lindsay Graham and Carly Fiorina and Jim Gilmore — all of whom have withdrawn from the race.

In fact, there are more candidates on the ballot, at 13, than there are in real life. As of right now, there are only six candidates left: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump.

Even though Ladra completely expects a couple more (read: Ben Carson for sure) to drop out in the next month.

Maybe even Jeb! Depends on how he does in South Carolina Saturday and Nevada Feb. 23. Because our former governor really, really doesn’t want to come in fourth in Florida.

A few reminders for those who plan to mail in their ballots. 

• Ballots must be received by the Supervisor of Elections no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.
• Voters must sign inside the red box on the back of the return envelope.
• Signatures must match the signatures on record.
• Oh, and never give your ballot to anyone, unless they have been authorized as a designee under Section 12-14 of the Code of Miami-Dade County. 

“Absentee voting continues to grow in popularity with each election cycle because voters are able to research the candidates and vote from the comfort of their home,” Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor Christina White said in a statement.

The department will likely be mailing absentee ballots out every day as voters continue to request them. The deadline to request a ballot for the March 15 primary is 5 p.m. March 9.

Voters can request an absentee ballot on the website, by phone at (305) 499-8444, in writing or in person. Go to www.iamelectionready.org or call 305-499-VOTE (8683) for more information.

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As expected and reported in Political Cortadito previously, we are still nowhere near a deal for FIU to expand onto the grounds currently occupied by the Dade County Youth Fair and Expo.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez finally admitted Wednesday that talks have led nowhere and that The Fair doesn’t have to budge because it has an upper hand, using a poker analogy with the Miami Herald editorial board: The Fair is holding a royal flush; the county has a card short of a low straight.

Lost in the ensuing laughter, the follow up questions that were never asked is why is the mayor playing poker with The Fair to begin with? Has there been bluffing involved? What are the stakes? And shouldn’t the county already have folded? Is this really the best use of our mayor’s time and energies? What would breaking the lease, as he also suggested he might do, say to other entities looking to do business with the county?

Read related story: FIU’s bully battle vs Youth Fair keeps costing us plenty

Because at the same time as Gimenez admitted a deadlock, he also admitted two other things that should be sorta outrageous. The first is that he is going to continue to waste our county time and resources to work on a solution that he says can’t be had that would work for both FIU and The Fair, which would need to get an equal or better location able to accommodate 24,000 cars.

“I am actively trying to find a location, an alternative, uh, you know, half way, acres, you can co-mlocate, all that,” Gimenez said in an often rambling half hour interview broadcast on Periscope that ran the gamut from CRAs and the Frost Museum bailout to regulations for Uber and the Liberty Square redevelopment.

The second thing is that he is willing and ready, mind you, to break the lease and evict the Fair even though they have “an incredibly sweet deal” of a rock solid contract that is legally binding through 2085 and they are, well, holding all the cards. He just doesn’t want to have to pay the financial consequences.

Isn’t that like saying you’re willing to steal something as long as you aren’t caught and charged?

Read related story: Mayor to meet with FIU and Youth Fair over standoff

Gimenez has said FIU would have to provide a legal guarantee that they would pay any costs associated with a lawsuit.

“What I’m saying is that if you want us to do that, then somebody is going to have to pay if there is a relocation cost, someone is going to have to pay if there is a judgement against Miami Dade,” Gimenez said, flanked by his entourage of county staffers — Budget Director Jennifer Moon, Communications Director and spin doctor Michael Hernandez and Chief of Staff Alex Ferro, as well as whoever was Periscoping.

The university president has already said that they can’t do that.

They have $50 million committed — which would come out of state funds, by the way (read: our tax dollars) — to move the Fair and for the construction of

There’s more. Please press this “continue reading” button to “turn the page.”

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Doral leaders are getting ready to update their master plan for the young Northwest city’s parks system and is seeking more public input about what residents want.

The city — which conducted a survey last Fall — had two public meetings on Wednesday. Two more public meetings are planned for today, Thursday. The first is from 6 to 7 p.m. at City Hall, 8401 SW 53rd Terr. And the second is from 8 to 9 p.m. at Windward at Islands of Doral, 11485 NW 77th Lane.

Officials are looking for feedback on current facilities and programs as well as what residents want in equipment, green space and/or sports and recreation programs.

Doral currently has a pretty robust program at its six city parks. They are also planning an aquatic facility with a lazy river, water tot lot, Olympic sized pool, slides and “funbrellas.”

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What do 100,000 people, 1,000 pilings and 450 docked boats have in common? These are the nightmares that plague the people in Key Biscayne as the Miami International Boat Show begins today at the long-abandoned Miami Marine Stadium and its environmentally sensitive surrounds.

When the county gave the go ahead for the boat show to use the property, it did so only to test the waters, so to speak, and see if the location could hold the crowds, traffic and environmental impact without too terribly disturbing residents who feel cut off from the mainland whenever an event comes to the Key.

Read related story: Boat Show battle comes to Miami-Dade for ‘temporary’ pass

That is why the village sent an email blast out Wednesday asking people to be “our eyes and ears on the ground” for the first ever boat show on Virginia Key and share images and stories about their experiences during the next three to four days, the duration of the event. They want people to post photos of what they apparently expect to be a catastrophy and even created a hashtag — #BoatShowReality.

Here is what they said in the unsigned email:

“The Miami International Boat Show will officially begin this Thursday (February 11, 2016), raising questions as to how this large scale event will impact one of our community’s most delicate and sensitive ecosystems.

The Miami International Boat Show has already shown considerable disregard for this environmental habitat, creating serious concerns for what the next four days will bring:

• Water taxis and boats crisscrossing through critical wildlife areas and manatee zones

• Harmful shoreline erosion caused by hundreds of docked boats

• Toxic litter polluting the water

• Threats to endangered marine life

Following this event, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County will decide whether or not to allow the Boat Show’s return to Virginia Key.  Help us keep them accountable by being our eyes and ears on the ground.

Share images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #BoatShowReality or email them to BoatShowReality@gmail.com.”

Meanwhile, preservationists are hoping the event will help shed light on the unique historic significance of the iconic stadium.

Ladra remembers watching boat races and concerts at the Miami Marine Stadium in the 70s.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Dade Heritage Trust are launching a petition to get public support for fulling restoring the stadium and will staff an informational kiosk throughout the Boat Show, which ends Monday.

Attendees can learn more about the history of the stadium and the National Trust is working with local artists to illuminate the stadium using projections of vintage footage.

They kiosk will also have copies of the petition — also available online at www.SavingPlaces.org/stadium — which calls on the Miami City Commission to make the stadium restoration a priority this year.

The City of Miami has already committed more than $20,000,000 to make improvements to the land around the stadium, including the creation of a flex park. Additionally, the preservationists believe there are other positive developments that indicate that the restoration effort is gaining momentum:

• A nomination to add the stadium to the National Register of Historic Places has been prepared for the U.S. Department of the Interior and is pending approval by the Miami City Commission. If named to the National Register, restoration work at the stadium would qualify for federal historic tax credits, which would reduce restoration costs by approximately $6 million.
• The Miami City Commission created an advisory committee — on which both the Dade Heritage Trust and the National Trust serve — to help shape a long-term vision for Virginia Key, including a comprehensive business plan that includes the renovation and re-opening of Miami Marine Stadium to the public
• In December, the city issued an RFQ for architectural and engineering services for the stadium. The response due date was recently extended to Wednesday, Feb. 17. 

I suppose we will have to see after the #BoatShowReality tour ends on Monday whether the event was a calamity or a catalyst for the restoration of a community gem.

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