Bal Harbour Shops housing project is not the boogeyman local officials paint it to be | Opinion
Attainable housing
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed the enhanced Live Local Act into law. The legislation provides incentives to create more affordable housing on private land by increasing zoning allowances, granting tax savings to property owners and streamlining approval timelines. The bill’s signing comes as Florida contends with an historic affordability crisis. A report by Miami Homes for All found that Miami-Dade needs 90,000 affordable units to meet current demand.
At Bal Harbour Shops, we have proposed a new mixed-use development centered around hundreds of workforce housing units that will cater to those who serve our community daily: teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, hospitality and healthcare workers. Unfortunately, the Village of Bal Harbour has gone to great lengths to stop our project by delaying the application process and adopting new ordinances intended to derail development.
The Live Local Act compelled me to contemplate workforce housing within our property. This is proof positive that our lawmakers got it right. I am hopeful the Village will join us in becoming part of the solution, rather than bending over backward to preserve the status quo.
Matthew Whitman Lazenby,
president, chief executive officer,
Whitman Family Development,
Bal Harbour
Forgotten heroes
Within Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address are the words, “… can never forget what they did.” On Memorial Day, I paid my respects to the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen of Miami-Dade County who died in service to the United States of America, by visiting the county war memorial in Bayfront Park. The memorial is engraved with the names of several hundred who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation.
There were no flags, no flowers and no bunting, as one might expect on this given day. Instead, parts of the inscription were so deteriorated they were illegible. I also found the memorial decorated with animal feces of some sort.
Miami-Dade forgot what they did. We can do better.
Gregg Chislett,
U.S. Army, retired,
Miami
Pocketbook issues
Re: the May 29 op-ed, “Most Americans see things differently than economists.” I don’t go by gross domestic product, stock market and unemployment numbers. I go by what I see. In the past, I could shop and dine in various beautiful shops and restaurants in downtown Miami, the Village of Miami Shores and North Miami’s 125th street.
Today, they are either boarded up or senior medical clinics fill their spaces. The mostly vacant 163rd Street Mall has cut the air conditioning in its covered hallway and it’s hot and musty. Product quality has also gone downhill. Two items I bought recently are glaring examples: a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that wouldn’t hold together and a food storage container with a lid that wouldn’t close.
I’m 70 and retired. Throughout my job hunting years, I could look through classified ads and find a job within a few days or weeks. Today, young people must search job hunting sites online and wonder if they’ll get a response to their inquiries.
As for the cost of living, everyone already knows how much more expensive everything is.
Who says the economy is better?
Not me!
Karin Stahl,
North Miami
Cuban capitalists
The recent updates, as highlighted in the May 28 Herald online article, “In a first, Cuba’s private business owners will be able to use U.S. banks, Treasury says,” do little to benefit the Cuban people and instead bolster the regime. Since the July 11, 2021 protests, internet access has been a critical need, as Cuban telecom company Etecsa cut the service.
These new measures primarily seem to serve commercial interests rather than support grassroots communication, for which the Cuban-American community has been advocating. Additionally, the idea that “independent Cuban entrepreneurs” will benefit is questionable.
Can these entrepreneurs truly operate without the regime’s blessing?
These updates do not foster genuine economic independence. Instead of emphasizing the “private sector,” more attention should be brought to Cuba’s civil society and political prisoners.
Carlos Martinez,
Silver Spring, MD
Posting party
As a military veteran, I read with interest the May 28 Herald online article, “Trump attacks Biden, hush money judge in Memorial Day post: ‘Human scum’.’’ I always wondered how draft dodgers celebrate Memorial Day.
Roger Hammer,
Homestead
Problem solvers
Re: the May 30 Herald editorial, ”As South Florida sizzles, climate denial is the new law.” I must give Republicans their props. They are a fine-tuned, well-oiled machine at creating problems (actually distractions) in search of solutions.
They’re even better at spinning proven expert solutions to real problems (vaccines, efforts to deal with climate change) as conspiracy theories or culture wars.
God help us!
Rosa Osborne,
Pembroke Pines
Bewitched ride
The one thing Donald Trump has said that I wholeheartedly agree with is that his opponents are on a witch hunt. And I know who the witch is.
Now, if only he would jump on his broom with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Gov. Ron DeSantis and a few others and fly off to Siberia, where they will be happily greeted by some of their best supporters.
David Hardesty,
Pinecrest
Resign, Alito
It is a sad day when one must be ashamed of a U. S. Supreme Court justice. However, with Justice Samuel Alito, it has come to that.
His letter to two U. S. senators, in which he tries to justify why partisan, provocative flags flew over his homes — the decision to do so was supposedly made by his wife — and not recuse himself from court cases involving ex-President Donald Trump, was ludicrous.
Any loving spouse should have enough sensitivity to avoid the inevitable embarrassment. Any Supreme Court justice should have the integrity to take his oath of impartiality seriously.
Daniel Klein,
Hollywood
No more puppets
Gov. DeSantis has it all wrong. Climate change is hitting us in the face, on top of the head, in the back of the neck, even our feet. Our homeowners insurance rates are climbing while insurance benefits are declining. Yet climate change shouldn’t be mentioned in any of our statutes or rules.
Will DeSantis next tell judges not to mention climate change in court?
It’s time for the voters to get rid of this governor and the Republicans who are so out of touch with the world we live in. We must get real people in office.
Gary P. Simon,
Pinecrest
Fully exposed
Gov. Ron DeSantis has tried to hide those elements of life he wishes were invisible. In his point of view, LBGTQ people should stay in the closet, so don’t say gay. Liberal ideas shouldn’t be taught in school, so books are banned by outsiders, not school boards. School children are too tender to learn facts, so teachers are threatened to curb history lessons and eliminate the truth about slavery.
The actual number of deaths from COVID-19 should be hidden from the public, so he hired an incompetent anti-vax doctor to preach against vaccines, a scientifically proven guard against serious illness and death.
Now, he wants us to believe there is no such thing as “climate change,” by striking those words from state documents. Impacts of climate change have been visible in Florida for years, with erosion of 1,000 miles of tidal coastline, increased flooding, record-breaking hurricanes and worsening algae blooms.
Studies warn the longer we fail to curtail harmful pollution and emissions, the worse nature’s impact and the worse the expense. People, truth and climate change are not invisible.
Johnnie McDonald,
Miami
Not so guilty
Isaac Bailey’s May 30 op-ed, “Trump’s guilt is already apparent,” compares Donald Trump to the late O.J. Simpson and George Zimmerman.
What could be further from the truth?
Trump did not kill anybody.
Mike Turkal,
Palmetto Bay
Whatever sticks
I’m sure that if Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s wife were unwilling to fall on the sword of the upside down flags controversy, he would have been willing to hoist the blame on the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny for the travesty on his doorsteps.
Bruce Shpiner,
Miami
