Miami Chidren’s Hospital gets its way

Miami Chidren’s Hospital gets its way
Shaida Brackin and Former Vice MayorRandy Wiscombe are seen enjoying themselves at theBaptist Hospital Breast Center Fundraiser at the Marriott Marquis on Brickell Ave.

The recent 2013 Legislative session ended a few weeks ago and here are a couple of items that we thought would be of interest to you:

Miami Children’s Hospital ultimately prevailed and got approval to open a labor and delivery ward for high-risk pregnancies.

This item that had some opponents bleeding red (money) had strong opposition and was hard fought on both sides. At one point it looked like a 30- bed maternity ward might get approved, but a couple of the big local hospitals fought it and for a moment it looked like the whole deal was DOA, but son of a gun it was resuscitated and came back with a lot less beds and when all the dust settled much to the chagrin of Jackson Memorial Hospital and the other giant, Baptist Health, the state approved 10 beds.

And let’s see what else; early voting which had been cut back to eight days is now going to be 14 days and 12 hours per day. That’s great; cuz now there will be more time to get rid of the clowns at city hall.

And lets see, a favorite topic of boomers didn’t pass, which was the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. But rest assured one way or another it’s coming back as right now some 18 states, plus DC have approved medical marijuana use. Additionally there are some nine other states that have starting the process to try and legalize the use of pot for medical reasons.

Went to the city commission meeting a while back and couldn’t help but see Horace Feliu, the former mayor sitting in the audience. My oh my, he really is checking out the place once again, getting a feel for it and getting charged up, I presume for his mayoral run come February.

And speaking of running, how come the three buffoons on the city commission haven’t been run out of town yet. Their ability to major in the minors is a disgrace and this city would be so much better off if all three would just resign and run for the hills.

My sources tell me that while Commissioners Wally and Bobble Head where in Tallahassee on city business, they were actually asked to leave a state senators office. Yup, the story is they showed up in their usual underdressed approach, donned in a type of T-shirt and I’m told and that the senator asked them to leave her office and to close the door behind them. Geez!

Will failure of Miami Dolphins deal help Mayor Gimenez’s political fortunes in the future?

With the Miami Dolphins Sun Life Stadium $350 million in upgrades, and about $280 million in tax concessions over 30 years going down in flames on Friday night in the Florida Legislature. Miami- Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez may have dodged a political bullet in the future when it comes to his reelection cycle in 2016, even while countywide voting on the deal had proceeded the past week and some 60,000 people had voted at the polls or by absentee ballot. Gimenez said he had struck a much tougher deal than the one for the Miami Marlins stadium, much criticized by county residents and said he just wanted to give the professional football team its day in court, and let the voters decide if it should have gone forward.

However, that is all a moot point now and the Dolphins are evaluating their options as team owner Stephen Ross, worth $4.4 billion decides if he will do some of the renovations and upgrades himself, or will try again next year in the state legislative body. However, with this deal falling through and fails to meet the NFL deadline of May 22 when the sites for the 50th and 51st Super Bowls will be held is decided with San Francisco the likely choice now. Especially since the team’s new stadium there is also a public/private project. However, local voters have had a bad taste in they’re mouth since the Miami Marlins new stadium deal where the public feels they were “hosed” when one looks at the lopsided deal. Where the professional team gets almost all the benefits, and Gimenez fought the deal when he was a county commissioner, and had the public and local government getting only the monetary scarps critics say. And this current deal while better was getting mixed traction with county voters, and had the legislation been successful. Gimenez in the next reelection cycle could have felt some political blowback from the deal, a problem that he now will avoid.

Moreover, while the Dolphin deal was said to generate 4,000 new jobs over the next few years, had a host of community leaders as the front men and women for the effort. The team could not avoid the obstacles of a local legislative delegation who overall were against the deal that statewide also involved potential funding for five or six other stadium or racetrack facilities. And the legislation was seen as a major legislative policy decision that had not been sufficiently vetted by state legislative leaders. The two local legislators that pushed he deal, and had the most to politically lose were state Senator Oscar Braynon, DMiami Gardens and delegation chair state Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, R-Hialeah since ultimately their efforts were in vain.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez statement regarding Dolphins bill outcome.

“The State Legislature did not take action on the bill to provide an additional 1% mainland tourist tax for the Dolphins’ stadium renovations. As a result, and in accordance with the resolution calling the special election, I have instructed our Elections Department to cancel the special election effective immediately. The two scheduled municipal elections will proceed according to plan. It is important to point out that the special election did not cost tax payers any money, as the Dolphins paid the county $4.7 million to cover election expenses – in fact, we estimate that there will be over one million dollars left over that can be used to meet other county needs. I would like to thank those voters who took advantage of early voting to express their opinion on the stadium issue. My priority from the beginning of this process has been to give our voters the final say.”

(This item was provided by watchdog report.net).

Thought of the Day: Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

— President George Washington

Got any tips? Contact me at 305-669- 7355, ext. 249, or send emails to michael@communitynewspapers.com


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2 COMMENTS

  1. Miami's community Newspspers does a great job covering the local news. I always pick up a copy when I am in a local business. Grant and Michael Miller are always going out of their way to help the local communities. I am glad my son and Grant's boys are now too old for little league Basebsll. We have been coaching our sons for many years and I am tired of Grant's team always beating our team .
    Wayne Berry , D.D.S.

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