A few months ago in this column, we touched on the somewhat cryptic message that was shared by activist Denise Covington at a city commission meeting. She freely stated that someone on the dais gave her “a very, very private and personal file” belonging to one of our men in blue. However, she failed to mention how she came into possession of the secret file. Nor did she specify who on the dais gave it to her and whether it was provided by an elected official or an employee – not that it matters. Clearly it just didn’t magically appear without a real live person making it happen.
Being the alleged news-hound that so many folks believe me to be, I decided to follow up for the sake of the readers who are nice enough to follow my column. As a result, my sleuthing has taken me no further than the South Miami Police Department. Sources very close to this matter have whispered that activist Denise did the right thing by turning over the file to … (drum roll) … none other than Chief Landa himself. And now we’ll just have to wait around to see what if anything happens.
And golly gee folks, the rumor mill is abuzz with the suggestion someone else has a copy of it. Of course, there are talks of wire taps galore. Hmmm… Not that anyone would do anything wrong, mind you.
On another front affecting the “City of Pleasant Living,” Beth Schwartz along with other un-named city activists won a victory regarding their filing of a Writ of Mandamus. The group hired Land Specialist Attorney Nancy Stroud to halt the sale of city hall by requesting that a higher court to instruct the city to desist from violating the city charter by adhering to the 5/5 vote requirement when it comes to increasing heights, density, and less restrictive uses. South Miami City Attorney Pepe tried to have the matter dismissed but failed. My sometimes reliable sources have informed me that the judge ruled that the city has 10 days to prove that it didn’t violate its own charter. Stay tuned.
Sorry to hear that Sandy Youkalis recently died. Sandy was a gentle soul who was very, very graceful and had real patience when he worked as a planning director, as a consultant, and as South Miami’s city manager. Prior to working in the city, he spent quite a few years with the city of Coral Gables where he built a wonderful reputation for being a fair and compassionate civil servant.
A few weeks ago, another young life was needlessly cut short. This time, just a short jog from the police station, at the small grocery store at the corner of SW 68 St and 59 Place. According to an eyewitness, two men were inside the store when an altercation occurred, and as they started to walk out of the store, one of them hit the other in the back of the head. Once outside, the man who was hit in the head went to his car, retrieved a gun, went back to the front of the store, located the victim, and pulled the trigger. A moment later the victim somehow walked back into the store and following right behind him was the shooter, who according to a witness, shot at him once again, at this point, the victim collapsed. One witness said that he’s not sure if the bullet reached its target outside the store, inside the store, or in both locations. In any case, a young man, just 22 years old, is gone. Period.
Despite the terrible things some people do to one another, there are many, many more good people doing good things in the community. So allow me to wrap this up by sharing this touching video produced by MPS Credit Union, highlighting the many connections they have with the communities they serve. The video features the credit union’s participation in outreach events they sponsor throughout the year.
Although the nearest MPS branch is a couple miles south on US-1 in Pinecrest, it’s well known that VP of Marketing Jennifer Gerson is very active with our South Miami-based ChamberSOUTH – so that certainly qualifies her as a good friend and neighbor. One look at this video (www.tinyurl.com/VoteMPS) and you can see the amazing work she and the MPS “Community Connection Team” do around Miami.
In fact, the video has been entered into a “Love My Credit Union Campaign,” a national charitable contest in which the winning credit union gets a chunk of money to go toward the charity of their choice. MPSCU has chosen to donate to the American Cancer Society, that is, if their homemade video gets enough views and votes to win! So take a moment to watch the video and be sure to share it with your friends and family, if you are so inclined. The more votes they get the better their chance of winning. Plus, each time you vote, you’re entered into a drawing to win $500 for the charity of your choice – and you get $500 for yourself. So, view, vote, win at www.tinyurl.com/VoteMPS.
