My opponent, Lila Kauffman, claims I have nothing to offer the residents of Sunny Isles Beach. [RE: Letters, published last week] The clearest way to refute these unfounded charges is to state the facts: 

1.Lila’s campaign is financed by developer money- tens of thousands of dollars as reported on her financial filings with the Board of Elections.

2.Lila’s voted to do away with side setbacks on several small ocean front lots.  She has consistently voted for the builder even when it took away the resident’s views.

3. Lila has, at every opportunity, refused to debate the issues with me at public forums.  We were both invited to debate the issues at Winston Towers 600-And when I arrived, she accused me of ‘crashing her party’. What nonsense.  I was specifically invited by the condo association three weeks earlier.

4. I support the views of the people of Sunny Isles Beach and will respond to their desires to stop over development and traffic congestion.

5. I support the development of Town Center comprised of low rise buildings, pedestrian plazas and a cultural center.

6. I will work hard to protect and maintain open beach accesses for all our residents.

7. I will not be a ‘rubber stamp’ commissioner.  I promise to bring honesty, integrity and above all respect for the needs of the people when I am elected your new commissioner.

8. Lila has served as commissioner for six years while the city government approved one high rise after another.  It is time for her to retire and permit sensible and responsible development to occur.

9.Lila now claims to be available to answer citizen phone calls.  Where’s she been for the past six years?

Lew Thaler

Dave Samson For Bay Harbor Islands Mayor: Because He’d Fit In 

RE: Your editorial about the Bay Harbor Town Council's struggles to come up with a comprehensive zoning plan. [“Having Visions,” published last week.] 

As far as I'm concerned the whole effort is too late; it really doesn't matter anymore -- once they allowed those two monstrosities to be built on East Bay Harbor Drive, the town was ruined anyway. Whether they allow the other five previously okayed to be built or not, or a dozen, or a hundred more...it's all beside the point. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, or, to put it another way, you can't be just "a little bit pregnant." One high rise was enough to permanently destroy the look of the East Island; the second was only adding insult to injury.

Yes, the Council is dominated by West Islanders, where all the homes are private low-rise ones. What I'd like to see is a zoning change allowing 15-story horrors to be built on the West Island so that these Council slugs who live there could reap the same beautification benefits they've dumped onto our East Island.   

All you really have to know about these yo-yo's on the Council is that one of them is the same developer who was permitted to erect the new eyesore at 97h St. & East Bay Harbor Drive and who doesn't even have the decency to recuse himself when votes on these matters are taken by the Council. 

But they are now busy trying to see how many thousands of dollars they can assess all the homeowners and business owners here so that they can proceed with their grandiose "beautification" program of new lighting, etc. What a crock that is. Fix up Kane Concourse? Why? Half the storefronts there are empty anyway, and with good reason. Who wants to pay 25 cents for only 12 minutes parking there?

I wish the citizen's committee well in its efforts to keep an eye on that devious bunch on the Council, but, as I said up front, it's all too late, unless they can somehow get the Gang of Seven to lop off half the floors on those twin monstrosities already completed.

Otherwise...forget it. We've become another Sunny Isles. Maybe we could

get Dave Samson as our next mayor. He'd fit right in here with this Council.

Marty Monroe

Trainspotting: And the Political Satire Continues 

Dear Editor: 

Reports indicate that of those that took The Bay Link Achievement Self-Test (BLAST) only one failure was reported - a member of the Citizens Technical Committee who requested to remain forever anonymous. Consequently, this Part 2 of the BLAST is formatted as multiple choice, a more rigorous test of the reader’s knowledge of the subject. Two out of three possible answers are either wrong or not quite as correct as the third possible answer. Like the F.C.A.T., the BLAST will be repeated until everyone gets it right; Part 3 will require essay answers without questions. Each prospective expert may test his/her knowledge of Light Rail and bus transit systems and have until the September 8, 2003 Miami Beach Special Commission Meeting to complete the BLAST and contribute meaningfully during the “Commission Workshop”.

1. Trolley Systems have rented their trolley cars for corporate parties, bar mitzvahs, weddings, birthdays, in order to increase revenue. (Yes / No Idea / a godless Consultant Lie) –

2. Trolley Cars are one of several types of vehicles used in Light Rail Systems. (Yes / Really? / I Knew That!) –

3. Political Pundits (A.C. Weinstein), Sociologists (Abe Lavender), Joyce Brothers and the Chairman of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee know more about transit than anyone in Miami-Dade County or in the world. (Not including Tampa or New Orleans / Including godless Track Salesmen / Including godless consultants) –

4. Buses are a source of clean air and travel on rubber tires which help preserve streets, and never block traffic on Alton Road or Washington Avenue. (Always true according to god-fearing bus salesmen / Seldom true / Never True) –

5. The Tampa Trolley System travels through a designated historic preservation district. (Trolley Wires are unsightly / Tracks are unsightly / Yes and supported by preservationists, residents, tourists and public & private venues) –

6. Is Light Rail rail heavier than Heavy Rail rail? (Never / Always / The Same / Trick Question) –

7. Double Deck buses, buses that look like trolleys, tap taps and rickshaws should be the Locally Preferred Alternative. (Yes, get rid of the godless rail salesmen / Maybe, get rid of the godless consultants / No, another !@##$%^&* idea from the god-fearing naysayers) –

8. The political decision makers should visit other Light Rail Systems that (Have no Bearing on Bay Link like San Francisco cable cars / That are similar in operation and patronage like Tampa / That are as far from Miami Beach as possible for a nice trip within the US) –

9. The  condition of Miami Beach Streets can be attributed to (Rubber-tired Buses, Trucks and Cars / Heavy-footed Pedestrians / the Light Rail Trolley System) –

10. Why is the New Orleans Light Rail Trolley System so successful it has added a third extension and building a fourth? (Residents and Tourists like to ride it / It has Destroyed an Historic Preservation Area / The Mississippi is larger than Indian Creek) -  

 On Latin Politics, Nikki Beach, Incompetence, and Heat Stroke  

Letter to the Editor: 

After reading articles in the Sun Post and the Herald concerning Nikki Beach, I find that Miami Beach is not immune from the Latin style politics of Miami Dade County. [RE: “Club Flub: Fate of Nikki Beach to Be Determined by Negotiations,” published August 21 in Beach and Aventura Editions.]

I have to wonder if no one had complained about taking away part of a public beach for private business would this problem ever come to light? Mr. Jorge Gonzalez sounds like the usual politician hiding something that is wrong with talk.

1- Why was this allowed in the first place?

2- How long has this been going on?

3- Why is there negotiations while this private business enriches itself?

4- Why is negotiations taking so long?

5- What other business has Mr. Gonzalez let go on to enrich business, at the expense of the public? His words were I give them the same break as others? What does that mean?

6- Has the mayor of Miami Beach been out in the sun to long? Now he wants the public to decide about Nikki Beach? Did he not know what was going on before? Does the title Banana Republic seem to fit?

Just another issue that shows the downward spiral of politics in Dade.  What is next, renting the police station?

Norman Grossman 

Nikki Beach: Our Guards Will No Longer Tackle You 

It is laughable and a shameful lie for Lucia Penrod to say: "We've never prevented anyone from coming in through the back.” [RE: “Penrod’s Negotiating with City on Nikki Beach’s Fate, March Referendum Projected,” published last week in Beach edition.] Every Sunday for a couple of years paid guards prevented anyone from entering through the back. And how nice of them to share the park with us. It is not for them to share. It is for the City of Miami Beach to take back what was wrongfully taken from the public. I mean now and no negotiations. Our city officials are either idiots or had their hand in the game. No one knew that the Penrods were encroaching on public property and took advantage of the situation? Ha!