iami
Beach
elected officials hoped to send the message that board
appointees should make decisions based on what is best
for residents, not for special interests, when they made
their city board appointments Wednesday afternoon.
And when it came to the Planning Board, the
new City Commission cleaned house.
“I wanted to replace all the members on the Planning
Board because I felt during the last election [the
board] hadn’t followed all the commission’s
instructions, particularly on the Miami Heart issue,”
Commissioner Saul Gross said.
Gross referred to the former Planning Board’s suspected
allegiance to
Mount Sinai
Medical Center when it refused to make a decision last
September on the zoning of Miami Heart Institute, which
the medical center owned. The delay meant the commission
could not act on the zoning until after the Nov. 6
election.
Matthew Adler, the son of developer and
Mount Sinai board member Michael Adler, refused to
recuse himself on the Miami Heart vote — which led to
his being axed from the Planning Board Wednesday. Robert
Kaplan, who also didn’t recuse himself even though he
was affiliated with the Mount Sinai Medical Center
Foundation, wasn’t invited back to the Planning Board
either. Marlo Courney, the former chair, and Cathy Leff
resigned.
The new appointments to the Planning Board were Frank
Kruszewski, Jonathon Fryd, Henry Stolar, Gary Appel and
Randy Weisburd. Jorge Kuperman’s and Richard Kuper’s
terms are up at the end of the year.
Kruszewski, who lost his commission bid to Deede
Weithorn, is a Miami Beach Realtor who has served on
various city boards.
Stolar is a retired lawyer who has been very active in
fighting for quality of life issues. He served four
years on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, the equivalent
of a City Commission.
Appel is a tax attorney and licensed real estate broker.
The Miami Design Preservation League recommended him.
Weisburd’s professional experience is in business and
real estate. He currently runs a condominium association
management business, whose clients include Canyon Ranch
Living Miami Beach.
Fryd is a third-generation
Miami Beach developer.
Other board appointments are as follows:
Board of Adjustment: Larry Herrup was
reappointed. New members include Alex Annunziato, Lior
Leser and Sherry Roberts.
Historic Preservation Board: Allan Hall and Norberto
Rosenstein were reappointed. Henry Lares is a new
member.
Design Review Board: Gabrielle Redfern, Alex
David and Michael Steffens were reappointed.
Art in Public Places: Claire Breukel, Rhonda
Mitrani-Buchman and Heather Urban.
Budget Advisory Committee: Tony Rodriquez.
Cultural Arts Council: Nina Duval, Solomon
Genet, Israel Sands and Gail Thompson.
Personnel Board: Bryant Kirkland, Barbara “Bunny”
Patchen and Michael Perimutter.
Visitor and Convention Authority: Jackie Hertz, Melanie
Muss, Jaime Rubinson and Mark Tamis.
Comments? E-mail
ben@miamisunpost.com
