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Frightened, But Not Intimidated
When Bijou
Hotel developer Frederic Rado failed to get his project
re-approved, he stormed out of the Nov. 13 Historic Preservation
Board meeting and accused me of having bought the vote of
dissenting board member Jeff Donnelly [“Further Delay,”
published Nov. 15].
The SunPost
reporter who observed this wrote that I was “admittedly
frightened.” He was right. However, it was not fear of this
baseless accusation, but the fact that this was the latest in a
series of threats by the developer.
Rado had
previously threatened to litigate against anyone who appealed
the project. He warned me that he would investigate anyone who
opposed him, and would “sue every unit owner in your condo.” He
said he had “unlimited funds and international investigators who
could find out anything they needed to know about anyone.” Now
Rado was accusing me and Jeff Donnelly, who had the fortitude to
question the project’s traffic impacts, of an illegal act.
Rado’s charge —
“You bought a vote! You bought a vote and I will prove it!”
—illustrates how he thinks, that the way to get a vote is to buy
it. Such threats are a deterrent to activists who would take on
a developer with deep pockets and a cohort of lawyers,
architects, traffic and noise consultants. I had a long career
in public service and I will not be intimidated.
Frank Del Vecchio
Miami Beach
Show Me the
Love
Ben [Torter], I
respect you. You’re one of the most thorough and professional
journalists I’ve come across. Your article yesterday about the
Group 6 commission race [“Head to Head,” published Nov. 15] was
very well-written, fair and balanced (truly, not just a slogan
in this case).
But I have to
ask you, must I solely be characterized in a light about the
negative part of the Group 5 battle? Jonah’s campaign did a lot
of high-quality positive ads (TV and mail). Strategically, we
outfoxed our opponent. Our message was above everyone else’s,
including the mayoral candidates. All of this culminated in
Jonah being the top vote-getter on Nov. 6. He won across all
ethnic groups, and he was the lone non-Hispanic to win the early
voting and absentee voting results.
Come on, can't
you give me just a little love? The Herald never will.
David R. Custin
Miami
The Prince
of Darkness to SunPost: Funny, Funny
Thanks for the
wonderful article [“The Gloves Come Off,” published Nov. 15].
Where did you get the Benaiges stuff? Pretty funny. My only
disappointment is that you didn’t quote me telling them to get a
computer.
Randall
Hilliard
Miami Beach
Now, Now
Pesky Bicyclists
So, the
suburban autocentric viewpoint weighs in [Re: Letters, “I May or
May Not Brake for Bicyclists” by Hershel Goldberg and “Bicycling
While Oblivious on Miami Roads Equals Tour de Dead” by
Christopher S. Carver, published Sept. 13 in response to
“Hell of a Ride,” published Aug. 30]. Say, who do these pesky
bicyclists think they are — riding on two wheels, for
Ford’s sake! — the Kings of Siam?
Chris, I
personally got bumped myself once, no doubt accidentally, by one
of those “courteous” drivers. Now, I don’t want to say I got
road rash from road rage, but you know that old song, “Eyes
Without A Face”? Never mind.
And, Hersch,
baby, you’ve especially got a point about those slow-moving
buses. They do take up even more room then your big, fat
SUV as they toil wheezing from stop to stop. Whew! Imagine
having to ride one? But I agree that a clean, efficient
streetcar system would no doubt get a few of those spewing
behemoths off the street, and maybe a couple of bicycles, too.
Then we could really whiz down Collins or tear up Alton
Speedway, er, Road, blaring a few of those idiot street-crossers
out of our way. Don’t get me started.
Too bad those
tomfool bicycle riders, pedestrians and bus riders don’t get it.
They just don’t realize that driving a car is our right,
and they should feel privileged to be using our
roadways. Listen, let’s talk about it next time we’re mired in
Beach gridlock. Then we’ll really hatch out a scheme to
clear ’em off the streets, make things safe again for us
drivers.
“Tailpipe”
Jeffrey Bradley
Miami Beach |
