Great to see Pets Trust getting a sound endorsement from Miami-Dade County voters. Credit Calusa Park’s Michael Rosenberg and his team for their ninemonth campaign to accomplish a job many dedicated animal rescuers figured would be useless after years of their unsuccessful appeals to expand Animal Services.
Now attracting nationwide attention, passage of the proposal has awakened other state and local organizations to follow the lead the Miami-Dade group has created.
Not only inspirational as a humane cause, the program proposes long-range tax reduction by substituting spaying and neutering strays (estimated at $60 each) for euanthasia ($300 for sheltering until execution).
“When the Pets’ Trust begins the implementation part the day after the election, we intend to make this the best program the County has ever seen and become a model for the country,” writes Rosenberg in an Email. “We will guard it like a hawk because after all this work, and Rita Schwartz doing rescue work of animals, we will NOT NOT NOT let it be anything but a success!! Just watch the next part after the election.”
We’ll not only watch but monitor how County Commissioners respond to a mandate to take action for a problem left unattended for all too long.
Half-page ad in Neighbors Nov. 1 asks for Miami-Dade Community Council members, noting 30 vacancies on eight boards. Makes you wonder how zoning gets passed in Redland with five of seven Council seats vacant. West Kendall Council 11 has only a single vacancy in West Kendall Council 11 (none in East Kendall Council 12).
That empty Subarea 114 post is currently held by Joseph E. Delaney, who regularly attends meetings but missed filing papers for reelection last June for the Aug. 14 primary by just minutes. Now, with no one else having filed, the seat will automatically become vacant at the end of 2012.
So why not reappoint Mr. Delaney? A widely-respected community service official, he deserves a second term – certainly over and above fishing around for someone else. Another excellent choice: Ileana Petisco whose keen interest and service made a special mark during an appointive service over the past year.
We didn’t make the ribbon-cutting by District 11 Comish Joe Martinez last month that kicked off a major widening project of SW 147 Avenue between SW 10 and SW 22 Streets just north of what many folks consider West Kendall.
Why so special? The 14-month project will complete a segment a major West Dade route to allow commuters to travel north and south on SW 147 Avenue without interruption from SW 26 to SW 8 Street. Currently, commuters must detour to SW 137 or SW 157 Avenue to go north or south.
Improvements include resurfacing, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, curb ramps, drainage installations, new lighting, guardrails, fences, and signage along with water main construction from SW 22 Street to SW 18 Street. Construction is scheduled through Dec. 31, 2013.
Community active folks around Kendall note passing of “longtime civic gadfly” (as the ayem papyrus headlined), the death of Denny Wood, 68, who regularly appeared at many Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations political panels.
According to a friend, Wood lost his legs in a fall from a silo in Ohio about 50 years ago. Leaving no known relatives, he was found in his T-shirt shop in Palmetto Bay where he often braved and blasted US 1 traffic from his wheelchair.
Always taking “his seat” up front at Kendall Town Meetings, Wood let any politician know how he stood on any topic under the sun – but most of all, pushed the pols for more and better access for the disabled. His last Kendall visit came this year as a candidate for Miami-Dade Mayor – when he took the dais himself at Winston Park Clubhouse.
Prexy Holly White reminds Continental Park folks that the CP Homeowners Association meets from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15. “Meet and vote for board members and listen to guest speakers,” she emails her neighbors.
Space exploration update: buckle seat belts for a launch into space with Russell Romanella from Kennedy Space Center who updates commercial SpaceX missions and space probes tested by NASA. SCAS (Southern Cross Astronomical Society) hosting free program at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 at FIU with prizes and food buffet, too. Park in the campus garage, west side of SW 109 Ave./SW 8 St. and follow the signs to CP-145 lecture hall in the FIU Physics Building, Main campus. For information, call 305-661-1375 or visit www.scas.org.
“I always know when they’re chlorinating the water,” observes a staffer. “My wife saw Snoops take just two gulps instead of his usual five or six from his water dish.” Comish Lynda Bell confirms the chlorination cleansing began Nov. 5 and will end Nov. 18. Residents “may experience some chlorine smell and/or taste in their water,” she adds, noting it doesn’t pose any adverse health problem. However, Snoopy now lapping up bottled water in one family’s kitchen.
Thought of the Day: The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do
— Walter Bagehot
Gary Alan Ruse contributed to this column.
Got any tips? Contact me at 305-669-7355, ext. 249, or send emails to Michael@communitynewspapers.com
