A Silver-Lining Legacy

Miami Commission may name Little Haiti Park community center after Arthur Teele Jr.

By Angie Hargot

Miami city commissioners want to name Little Haiti Park’s new community center after Arthur Teele Jr., who committed suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald in 2005.

Even though the mere mention of it spurs memories of tragedy, questions, lingering doubts of innocence and, perhaps, some regret, Arthur Teele Jr.’s name will live on.

Miami city commissioners want to rename Little Haiti Park’s new community center in honor of the late Miami commissioner, who secured more than $22 million to build it, and who, for better or worse, forever made his mark on the city’s consciousness.

The subject of a recent student documentary chronicling his life, Teele is now the focus of a resident-driven initiative to name the community center after the commissioner who fought for the funding to make it possible.  

Almost three years ago, Teele found himself mired in corruption allegations that included accepting roughly $100,000 in contractor bribes as chairman of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency and a conviction for threatening a police officer that was overturned after he died.

On July 27, 2005, Teele walked into the lobby of the Miami Herald with a box, presumably of evidence, that he wanted to deliver to then-Herald reporter Jim DeFede, left a message telling his wife he loved her, put a pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Although the images of his body stretched out on the floor of the newspaper’s lobby are burned into the memories of those who saw them, Teele’s story and legacy live on.

The storm of emotions that erupted in various communities following Teele’s death was unparalleled. The story shook the media as much as it did the neighborhoods and government offices where Teele was best known.

However, some Little Haiti residents want to thank Teele posthumously for keeping his word: The park he promised them was built. So, they lobbied District 5’s current commissioner, Michelle Spence-Jones, to name the park’s new community center after him.

Although the City Commission must pass a formal item in “legislative format” before it is official, several residents showed their support during a preliminary discussion on April 24.

“We sat down, we all talked about it,” longtime Little Haiti activist Hattie Willis said. “We’ve come to a conclusion: We would appreciate if the commissioner would direct the manager to name the facility, the community center, after Commissioner Arthur Teele. And that’s our recommendation to the city.”

Community activist Marleine Bastien agreed. “Our position in the Haitian-American community is to support … naming the community center after Commissioner Arthur Teele,” Bastien said. “But the park [should] retain its name of Little Haiti Park ... and the [Little Haiti] soccer park would be named after Haitian soccer player Emmanuel ‘Manno’ Sanon.”

Spence-Jones, who never served with Teele on the commission, added the resolution to name the center after Teele and another to name the soccer park after Sanon.

“Whether we want to acknowledge this or not, [Teele] is definitely the person who started the idea for this park,” Spence-Jones said. “In some parts of the community, this could be seen as scandalous; in other parts of the community, the naming may provoke anger and dismay. But in the community where the park sits, there is no doubt that the park should recognize his contribution to the area.”

Commissioner Angel Gonzalez agreed.

“He was not only concerned about his people and his district, but every district,” Gonzalez said. “He always helped everyone that was disadvantaged. I don’t care what anybody says; he was charged, but he wasn’t found guilty. I believe that … there were forces that drove him to do what he did because he was a man of honor. He was a man of integrity. He was a veteran and was well-respected. God be with him and God keep him in a good place. And I’m sure he’s in a good place.”

Commissioner Tomas Regalado recounted when he met the late commissioner during Teele’s campaign for mayor.

“I was on the radio and we traded stories about the Vietnam War,” Regalado said. “We all went to the Republican National Convention in 1988. He went on to run for county mayor and I remember when he wanted to run for city commissioner in Miami. We sat together here and I learned something about him: Everything that he thought was the right thing for his community, he did it with passion.

“He wanted the voters to make a statement that the Haitian community deserved a first-class park,” Regalado said.

“Despite the circumstances surrounding his life, the bottom line is that history records that he has made a positive impact in Little Haiti,” Spence-Jones said. “Today, what we wanted to do is at least acknowledge Arthur Teele for his hard work because without him this park wouldn’t exist. I stand here in support of it, whether or not people feel he deserves to have that — only the residents in the area can judge.”

The city celebrated the grand opening of the park on Saturday with the third annual Toussaint L’Ouverture parade on Northeast Second Avenue. However, “the official groundbreaking of the Arthur E. Teele Community Center was postponed because we could not get in contact with a family member,” said Jonelle Adderley, assistant to Spence-Jones.

The commission will consider the two renaming requests at its May 8 meeting.

“If it wasn’t for Art Teele, that park would not be here today,” Commissioner Joe Sanchez said. “And it will be an honor for me to vote for it when that resolution comes back.”

Comments? E-mail angie@miamisunpost.com