Brickell Homeowners Association

Current BHA News
BHA News, Vol. XIV, No. 3 Fall 2004

The Brickell Neighborhood Political Action Committee, serving the Brickell residential community from the Miami River to Rickenbacker Causeway, endorsed candidates in three races in August before the primary, all three of whom advanced to runoffs in the November 2nd General Election. In September two additional endorsements were added to the list.

Jimmy Morales
After a comprehensive review process, the PAC Steering Committee determined that Commissioner Morales, who has served the Brickell community as the Miami-Dade County District 7 representative for the past eight years, has earned the trust and support of residents. Along with the strongest track record for looking out for Brickell neighborhood concerns while effectively serving all of greater Miami-Dade, the committee felt that Commissioner Morales has proven himself to be a man of integrity.

Carlos A. Gimenez
In the County Commission race for District 7, which encompasses Brickell Avenue, the PAC endorsed Carlos A. Gimenez. The Brickell neighborhood enjoyed a professional, responsive relationship with Mr. Gimenez when he served as City of Miami manager, and it was this experience in public administration that demonstrated he can hit the ground running. (The other Miami-Dade Commissioner serving part of the BHA membership geography is Bruno Barreiro, District 5, who won his re-election bid unopposed.)

Michael Kosnitsky
In the School Board race for District 3, Michael Kosnitsky won the Brickell Neighborhood PAC’s approval due to his reputation for understanding the numbers behind the equation and being tough when the job calls for it. He is in a runoff against Martin Karp.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
The Brickell Neighborhood PAC endorsed the re-election candidacy of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for U.S. House of Representatives, Congressional District 18, citing her strong track record for public service since first being elected in 1989. She has consistently reached out and stayed in touch with her constituents while serving in Washington, DC.

GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND
Building Better Communities
The PAC gave its nod to all eight of the questions comprising the $2.9 billion General Obligation Bond proposals. The PAC said that needed, major capital improvements would be made throughout Miami-Dade County with these bonds, improvements not undertaken since the 30-year Decade of Progress Bonds projects were completed. That program won favorable voter approval in 1972. The GOB question will be presented as eight separate questions; the PAC endorsed all eight. (see Huge Bond Program Aims to “Build Better Communities” in this issue)

The Brickell Neighborhood PAC was formed seven years ago when Brickell homeowners realized they needed stronger representation before governmental bodies impacting the neighborhood. It has proven effective ever since in garnering the attention that residents in the Brickell corridor seek for issues of concern. Preventing commercial encroachment, maintaining a residential ambiance and controlling growth and traffic are among Brickell residents’ chief concerns.
The Brickell PAC empowers homeowning taxpayers with vested interests in the Brickell Neighborhood but who are not eligible to vote. The PAC provides a voice in the election process for Brickell residents, some 16,000 strong.
For more information on the history of the Brickell Neighborhood PAC and its stands on previous elections and issues, please see www.brickellhomeowners.com/
pac.html

President's Column By T. Sinclair (Tory) Jacobs: What is the Relationship Between the Brickell Neighborhood PAC and BHA?

Tory Jacobs

Seven years ago, BHA Directors came to the realization that we could be more effective in gaining favorable consideration for our neighborhood concerns by taking a more active role in the political process.
BHA is funded by annual dues assessed on its member associations. The Documents governing many, if not all, of the members may be interpreted to restrict use of fees to advocacy for issues, but not for individual candidates.
And so the Brickell Neighborhood Political Action Committee (PAC) was born, supported solely by voluntary donations, open to broader membership than BHA and registered with the State. The State mandates two officers, a chairman and a treasurer with periodic reports of revenues and disbursements. The volunteer PAC donors set up a steering committee from among those who volunteered to serve.

The Steering Committee’s focus is how best to achieve the neighbors’ goals. To this end, a Political Scientist, Ph.D., is retained to design questionnaires for each race and then to evaluate responses, grading on a scale, a proven practice in this discipline. In addition, for selected races, candidate interviews are also conducted.
Finally, the PAC Steering Committee’s recommendations are presented to BHA membership for consideration. The BHA Community should recognize that they are being given professional evaluations and recommendations to best serve the Neighborhood.

Elsewhere in this issue of BHA News are the PAC’s findings for the November 2nd election. We believe residents of the BHA Community will be well served by voting in accordance with these recommendations, but, more important to BHA, however, we encourage you to vote regardless of whether you accept the PAC’s recommendations, because the more voters actually voting in the Brickell precincts, ’ears.

When the idea of Neighborhood Enhancement Teams was born in the City of Miami more than a decade ago, administrators described a system for locating small satellite offices of City staff and police right within the neighborhoods they served. An advantage was that these NET areas would enable more personalized service in the big metropolis and reintroduce the notion of “community policing” – where the same officers cover the same neighborhoods every day so that the police get to know those that live (and belong) there. And residents would get to know the police at the same time.

Officer Jeffrey Giordano has been that neighborhood cop, that consistent face and badge, for 12 years for Brickell. Although he’s not patrolling a “beat,” as the Neighborhood Resource Officer he works closely with the communities and NET offices in the Brickell area as well as parts of Little Havana, seeking solutions to whatever problems are presented.

“Jeff is the first call we all make when it’s a non-emergency police or enforcement matter, or something that we think the police could help us with,” BHA President Tory Jacobs said. “Jeff will address the matter, research solutions or put us in touch with another resource ... whatever it takes we can depend on him to stay on it until resolution.”

Jeff just celebrated his 19th anniversary on the force, and said he’s seen a lot of changes in policing over the nearly two decades. Before becoming Brickell’s #1 resource cop, he spent a few years on patrol and as an undercover officer on drug and prostitution stings.

“I had long hair and used to buy drugs to set up the arrests,” he said of a time he recalls with surprising fondness, describing those assignments as “the most enjoyable part of the career ... living the life of danger every day.”

He was involved in two shootouts but never took a bullet, although his colleagues don’t let him forget that he was hit on the head with a brick and knocked out one time.
“If you ever hear them call me ‘brick head’ that’s why,” he laughed.

No Cake Walk
Lest one think that Brickell’s Neighborhood Resource Officer no longer faces the real tough crime fighting, Officer Giordano will tell you otherwise.

“Actually, we have time to work on those cases more and involve others if needed,” Officer Giordano said. “We’re able to look at crime trends in the area, from front to back, to analyze what’s happening.”

He’s been involved in solving major burglary operations, drug arrests with the DEA and other serious crime fighting in Brickell.

Don’t Let the Smile Fool You
Jeff’s calm demeanor, sense of humor and general all-around good guy appeal is just a façade, apparently, for behind the badge is a third degree black belt karate expert and fitness specialist.

“I owned a karate school for 12 years, while I was a cop -- and taught karate,” he said. “Now, I still teach it and I do personal fitness training with several clients, a few in the Brickell area.”

We had to ask Jeff, who was born in Milwaukee but grew up in Hialeah, how a nice guy like him got into police work. Seems his inspiration came from two role models, Starsky & Hutch, stars of the iconic television cop show of the 1970s.

“I enjoyed watching that and remembered thinking as a kid, ‘That’s pretty neat. I’d like running and chasing and catching the bad guys,’” he admitted.

Police work is not always as exciting as Starsky and Hutch made it, and he says it’s become “harder on cops and easier on criminals” since he joined the force, but nevertheless one can easily see that for Officer Giordano, being an officer of the law is a natural fit.

Even with his devotion to work and his personal training business with clients, Officer Giordano has made time for a family. He has a wife and two daughters, 16 and 19. Neither daughter is looking to go into police work, he said he was relieved to report. He’s also gone back to college at St. Thomas, working on a Bachelor’s degree.

Asked to leave Brickell neighbors with a word of advice or wisdom gleaned from all his years as a cop and his special understanding of the Brickell neighborhood, Officer Giordano said, “Crime can happen anywhere, anytime. Anyone can be a victim, so don’t think it can’t happen to you,” he said. “Always be aware of your surroundings.”

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens is one of Greater Miami’s true treasures: a grand, Italian estate-style villa, with beautifully landscaped gardens, and a view of Biscayne Bay like no other. It was built for American industrialist James Deering who used it as his winter residence from 1916 to 1925. At the time of its construction, Miami’s population was around 10,000. The land around the bay was hardly developed, although several estates like Deering’s existed or were about to be built. Considering today’s bay front in the Brickell area and beyond, this seems hard to picture.

The house itself has 34 rooms, decorated with 15th through 19th century furnishings and art objects. In addition to the house and formal gardens, the complex originally included a farm, livestock and a variety of other service facilities covering 180 acres on both sides of South Miami Avenue. After Deering’s death in 1925, minimal staff maintained the house. Over time, most of the land was sold for development, and in 1952 Miami-Dade County purchased the remaining complex. Deering’s heirs donated the art and furnishings to the County.

For years, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens has been a popular destination for tourists as well as local visitors. It has been accredited by the American Association of Museums, and it was placed on the National Register for Historic Places. Vizcaya has hosted a number of world-renowned dignitaries and major international events, as well as numerous private affairs and local gatherings.

Joel M. Hoffman has been the new Executive Director of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens since January 2004. Prior to coming to Miami – in fact, returning to Miami – Hoffman was the Vice Director for Education and Program Development at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for five years. While overseeing a staff of 25 – similar to Vizcaya’s entire staff – his role was to develop innovative educational programs and resources. He also served as audience advocate in the reinstallation of several of the museum’s collections.

Prior to Brooklyn, Hoffman was at the Wolfsonian/FIU on Miami Beach; as an associate director he was responsible for, among other things, educational programs and visitor services.

Hoffman’s appointment comes at an exciting and critical moment for Vizcaya and Miami-Dade County as a whole. Hoffman says “It was extremely important to me to understand that the Vizcaya Trust, which is the governing body, was very much ready to absolutely rethink the organization and significantly ramp up collections and facility care as well as public engagement at Vizcaya. So the sense that this was an organization that was poised for a lot of change was very exciting to me. Part of my thrust here is to reposition Vizcaya within the Miami-Dade community, primarily as a place for learning and culture surrounding visual arts and history.”

Practically speaking, this is being translated into the creation of a new leadership team to assist him in the implementation of these changes; a national search is currently taking place to fill several positions. Furthermore, plans are under development for the restoration and interpretation of the 11 historic buildings of the Vizcaya Village, on the other side of South Miami Avenue.

These are exciting times indeed, especially as the November 2nd elections are coming up. In addition to the candidates for political office, Miami-Dade County voters will find the Building Better Communities bond program on the ballot. The 8th question proposes $552 million for libraries, cultural facilities and historic preservation. Among the multiple projects, it will provide money for the renovation of Vizcaya, as well as fund the Museum Park complex, which will house the Museum of Science and the Miami Art Museum.

Hoffman says: “If the bond were to pass, and therefore if Vizcaya were to have the resources to restore and rehabilitate its facility, we would have the capacity to become a much, much greater cultural anchor for Miami-Dade County and specifically for this area. Our goal through this bond funding is to restore the house and the garden that everybody knows so well. But I think this community, notably the Brickell area, our immediate neighbors, would notice the greatest difference on the other side of South Miami Avenue, where we have these historic buildings that have never been open to the public, that have effectively been dormant prime property just adjacent to the Brickell neighborhood.
Along with the parking lot and the building currently occupied by the Miami Museum of Science, we have the potential to create an incredible community resource.”

The traffic question must be asked since one might speculate that this expansion could lead to problems related to increased traffic, parking needs or congestion. For comparison, issues of expansion proved a major obstacle for Parrot Jungle in Pinecrest and ultimately led to its relocation to Watson Island in 2003. However, Hoffman does not foresee this type of problem. “One has to bear in mind that Vizcaya is located at the intersection of Miami’s most significant roads. We are just off I-95. That property we are talking about developing is adjacent to Route 1, with Route 1 access. We have, I think, an incredibly untapped potential to better serve individuals that are Metrorail riders.”

While there appear to be issues with traffic circulation in Downtown, Hoffman said he doesn’t “see any additional flow to Vizcaya creating traffic problems for the Brickell area. I think what will happen is culture as a whole will move forward, and individuals living in the area will have great access to museums in close proximity.”

As for the significance of Vizcaya to Miami residents and visitors alike, Hoffman states: “I think that one of the really interesting things about Vizcaya is that it has been here since the early development of Miami as a modern city in the early days of the 20th century. Vizcaya serves as an incredible opportunity for residents of Miami to reflect on the past, to see the contrasts between the old Miami, the Brickell Avenue that consisted of single family homes and the Brickell Avenue of today that is really a cosmopolitan center. And by more dramatically developing the historic potential of the site, we’re giving all residents of Miami an understanding of the incredible contrast.”

History and art blend together in Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in a unique manner, and all that in the Brickell homeowners’ backyard. It’s an asset that few urban neighborhoods in the U.S.A. can call their own!

On November 2nd, registered voters in Miami-Dade County will have the opportunity to cast their votes on important issues affecting the County for years to come. Building Better Communities is the name of the proposed $2.9 billion GOB program that will provide funds for a wide range of services and projects to be implemented over the next two decades in all parts of the County. The bond offering will enable the Miami-Dade to invest in capital improvements now, while paying off the costs over the next 40 years. Overall, the proposed projects are aimed at improving the quality of life in the County as a whole; some of the improvements will affect specific neighborhoods and communities in particular.

Projects in the Brickell Vicinity
Of special interest to Brickell area residents may be, among others, the following projects:
• Miami River Greenway
• Miami Avenue Bridge
• Baywalk Bike Path
• Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
• Virginia Key Beach Park
• Museum Park complex
• Drainage and storm system improvements

The GOB vote comes at a time when the debt of the previous bond program has been paid off. The new bond debts will be repaid from that portion of property taxes previously dedicated to the last Decade of Progress bond program enacted in 1972. This program created much of the infrastructure and many of the facilities in Miami-Dade County that are in place today, including funds that supported the construction of Metro Zoo, renovations to regional parks such as Tropical and Tamiami Parks, the installation of automated traffic signals, and the development of recycling and sewage treatment facilities. A general obligation bond offering is considered a fiscally sound mechanism for funding long-term, capital improvements, such as those funded by the 1972 bond program, and the proposed Building Better Communities bond program.

Eight Questions to Consider
Originally proposed as a single issue, the 2004 bond program will appear on the ballot as eight separate questions, addressing various types of capital improvement projects and services. All eight questions on the ballot carry the endorsement of Brickell Neighborhood PAC (see cover story).

“Keep those forms coming” is the word from Barbara Bisno, the community activist working with the City in an attempt to make the new noise ordinance under development something residents can live with. Fax or mail your report, or, if you prefer, send via email to bbisno@comcast.net

Representatives from the Citizens’ Independent Transit Trust, including Chair Mark Buoniconti, gave BHA Directors an update in September on what’s been accomplished since the passage of the half-penny sales tax for transit as well as what the future plans include.
A key question in discussion of transit is always “how do you get people to use the systems?” whether rail, bus, trolley, jitney or some combination.

“My philosophy is to get it to where people are going to use it the most,” Mr. Buoniconti said. “The key is to get people out of their cars the best way you can...every little piece you can add helps. It’s not just one silver bullet.” Of particular interest to Brickell, the CITT is looking at the possibility of a tunnel under the Miami River, an idea that’s been discussed as a way to relieve congestion in the Downtown and Brickell corridor. The CITT will be advertising for a design consultant in early 2005.

Patrice Rosemond, Office of the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust;
Mark Buoniconti, CITT Chair; and David Tinder, Miami-Dade Public Works Department.