Tailgate?

Never one to rest on her laurels, the former chairperson of the Miami-Dade Commission, State Senator Gwen Margolis, has now been appointed chair of the senate’s powerful Finance and Taxation Committee. Some of the insiders are calling the appointment the tail end of a Republican Party thank you to Margolis for her help in raising a few bucks for GOP candidates. Margolis, a Democrat, says the appointment lies on the merits of her political experience. 

Going, Going….

Last week’s meeting of the Miami-Dade School Board may have been as contentious a gathering of that wild ‘n crazy bunch as witnessed in many years. In the line of fire: Outgoing Superintendent Merrett Stierheim.

It seems the majority of the board did not appreciate the way Stierheim handled the process that announced his self-appointed search committee to select his predecessor. Political and dictatorial was how the board characterized it.

Several board members even alleged that Stierheim announced his search committee process and appointments to the press prior to making it known to the board. That led to several editorials that lauded Stierheim for removing politics from the selection process.

The board chastised Stierheim and accused the embattled administrator of being the one that turned the search committee process into a political issue. One member even characterized Stierheim’s hiring a couple of years ago as being so political it was considered a “done deal” during that selection process.

In responding to the barrage of criticism, Stierheim said he would prefer to stay on the “high road,” which only further angered the board. One member even suggested that Stierheim should just “walk now.”

The board rejected Stierheim’s search committee process and then voted 6-3 to do it their way. Each of the nine members will appoint one person to the search committee. Four additional appointments will be made from outside groups, bringing the search committee to select the next superintendent to a total of thirteen members.

In addition to the board’s individual appointments, one person will be selected from the five unions, one from the various chambers of commerce, one from the PTA and one from the Municipal Mayor’s Association (MMA).

It appears that Pinecrest Mayor Evelyn Greer may be the MMA’s choice to sit on the search committee. Sterhiem is scheduled to leave in June. Or sooner.

In other action, the board also rejected a recommendation by Stierheim that would have allowed the superintendent to negotiate with Miami-Dade County’s Building Department to help with school inspections. Stierhiem was unsuccessful in trying to convince the board that the county inspectors would be less expensive than using private firms.

Grand Theft

Miami-Dade’s Building Department suffered another blow when state and county officials made their fifth arrest involving a county employee who was fraudulently giving approvals to contractors on home inspections. Charges include grand theft and official misconduct.

Design Review

The Miami Beach Design Review Board gave its glowing approval to Hotelerama Associates, Ltd., (Fontainebleau III) for the demolition of an existing hotel and the reconstruction of the façade, as well as the construction of a new eighteen-story hotel at 4441 Collins Avenue. The board commended both the developer and architect for bringing forward a responsible project to the community.

In other action, the DRB approved Miami Beach Watersports Center’s request for a one-story addition to an existing rowing facility at 6500 Indian Creek Drive. The board also approved a request by Normandy Holdings II, LLC to demolish five existing two-story apartment buildings in order to construct a new four-story townhome development at 155, 163, 173 and 193 North Shore Drive.

Resign Review

Long time Miami Beach employee Bruce Henderson, the city’s popular environmental specialist, resigned suddenly last week. In recent years, Henderson made great gains with innovative programs to ease beach erosion and was the project manager on several environmentally sensitive issues, including the city’s much-lauded and successful beachwalk. Henderson’s departure was, let’s just say, unexpected. 

Pumping Up

In conjunction with the National Physique Committee’s annual Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships that were held at the Jackie Gleason Theater earlier this month, Nautilus donated $15,000 in strength equipment to the soon-to-open North Shore Park Youth Center. Jim Mannion, president of the NPC and Buzz Truitt, vice president of marketing for the Nautilus Group, visited the youth center in a ceremony to present the equipment to Mayor David Dermer, Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Smith and Chairman of the facility’s Oversight Committee, Joe Fontana.

Murmurs Message

Happy Thanksgiving!