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Several weeks ago, I wrote a letter to our Miami-Dade County Commissioners to which I copied Miami’s Community Newspapers speaking against the development of a water park on environmentally sensitive land adjacent to Zoo Miami.
Quite honestly, I felt the letter would fall on deaf ears because never in my nearly 44 years of working at the zoo had I seen an item come before the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) that pitted development against the environment, where the environment won.
Environmentalists speak with their hearts and developers speak with money. Sadly, the money seems to always win. Knowing that, I still wrote the letter so that I could at least face myself and say that I tried to make a difference even though the powers that be said it was futile because the water park was a “done deal.”
I had been carrying massive guilt ever since I followed the directives of my supervisors and stayed silent as developers bulldozed critically endangered pine rockland next door to the zoo to build a Walmart, L.A. Fitness, hundreds of apartments, and a variety of other shops and restaurants known as Coral Reef Commons. I was not going to let that guilt overwhelm me again by not speaking out this time, no matter what my supervisors said.
I sat down with my wife and had a long discussion about the possible ramifications of writing that letter and how it could result in the end of my career at the zoo because I was going directly against my supervisors who supported the project, not to mention going against the power and influence of the developers and their lobbyists.
To her credit, she said that I needed to do what I felt was right and it would be better to leave a career with my head held high rather than to compromise my beliefs because of fear of retribution. I sent the letter and prepared for the worst.
To say that I was shocked by the response would be an understatement!
I immediately received calls from a variety of media outlets asking to interview me. I responded by saying that I would be happy to meet with them but that it would have to be at my home after working hours because I needed to speak as a “private citizen” and not a zoo employee since I was forbidden from doing so and I didn’t want to make it easy for my supervisors to accuse me of insubordination.
To my surprise, they agreed. I will be eternally grateful to all of the journalists who took the time to listen to the facts and provide fair and balanced reporting to properly inform the community about what the issues were.
The initial letter, along with the media reports afterwards, created an uproar from the community that is truly one of the most uplifting experiences I have ever had in my career.
The groundswell of support, especially from our youth, was beyond inspiring. Every day, I had people come up to me saying that they supported our efforts and for the first time, I felt that we really could make a difference and perhaps stop this damaging project from moving forward.
I requested meetings with each commissioner to discuss my concerns and was incredibly pleased with the response I received from most of them. They, along with key staff members, took significant time to listen to everything that I had to say, and I truly believed that they were doing so with an open mind.
However, I was cautioned by several of my peers that I shouldn’t be confident because politicians will often “tell you what you what you want to hear” and then do something else.
Time would tell.
After months of meetings, rallies, and deferrals of the item at the BCC, the vote was finally scheduled for Dec. 12. Large numbers of supporters showed up in bright blue shirts generously provided by an anonymous donor. When the item came up, the sponsoring commissioner made a motion to withdraw it. Though the withdrawal was approved by the commission, it was made abundantly clear by the majority of the commissioners that this project being at Zoo Miami was not supported. Instruction was given to the mayor to send out a letter to the developer officially rescinding the lease and in effect, killing the project.
Against all odds — the environment won!
This entire effort has restored my faith in our Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners.
It validated the belief that when the people lead, the leaders will follow. I cannot thank those commissioners enough who either personally met with me or arranged for their key staff members to meet with me. They have proven to be people of their word and not the stereotypical politicians of old. I honestly believe this is a “new commission” that is not beholden to the mistakes of past commissions.
Having said that, I would be remiss not to say shame on the four commissioners who never even acknowledged my repeated requests to meet with them. They know who they are.
The common courtesy of some response, even if it were to decline my request, would have been appreciated.
In closing and most importantly, I want to thank the scientists, researchers and volunteers for being the true heroes in this effort. I have received a lot of credit that I do not deserve for being able to stop this project from moving forward. It is those individuals who spent countless hours gathering the data that enabled us to make the case to the media and politicians that deserve the overwhelming majority of the credit for this important victory.
All I did was shine a light on their work and bring it to the forefront of the public’s attention.
It is also the combined work of organizations like Bat Conservation International, Tropical Audubon, and the Center for Biodiversity, that provided the legal counsel and support that led to critical victories in legal matters that were the final nails in the coffin of this project. We couldn’t have done it without them.
Lastly, I want to thank my peers at the zoo. They are true conservationists. It seemed like every day during this process, one of them would come to my office to quietly thank me for standing up for this effort. I will never understand why the zoo as an institution never spoke up against this project because I do know that the majority of those who work there were opposed to it but were forbidden from saying so.
After I regrettably remained silent during the Coral Reef Commons development, someone shared with me two sayings that will forever stick in my head with regard to not speaking up: “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence” and “Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
With this victory for the environment, I’ve already received one of the best gifts I could have hoped for!
Ron Magill
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