Miami-Dade County issues harsh audit of Homestead CRA, ignores City of Miami CRA's

As reported by Eyeonmiami, (Eyeonmiami Homestead CRA,  Homestead CRA) Miami-Dade County recently issued an audit report that, surprise, found the following irregularities:


"among other things, CRA officials failed to provide substantive evidence of job creation, business expansion, or affordable housing development activities"

"Also, the auditors have cited several questionable transactions involving former elected officials and others"

"for example, land containing 44 dilapidated "shotgun houses" was acquired at what appears to be an above-market price of $1.9 million from a company associated with former Mayor Steve Shriver. The houses were demolished and two years later the CRA has no specific plans for development."

"further, the CRA disbursed monies to entities with little or no accountability. A not-for-profit entity allied with former Mayor Steve Shriver was paid $401,000 to promote the City's Historic Downtown District. The contract was later cancelled due to performance issues."

Sound familiar? The OMNI/Park West Redevelopment Association submitted a 120 page complaint to the County in October 2009 (Formal complaint) alleging that the City of Miami CRA's had similar violations of Florida Statute 163 pt III, which requires tax increment funds used by the CRA's for redevelopment purposes to be used to reduce slum and blight.  The City of Miami CRA's have a similar trackrecord of non-implementation and non-performance of the legally binding Redevelopment Plan, and this complaint formally requested a legal and performance audit. The County replied that staff has reviewed the City of Miami CRA's and found no reason to undergo a performance audit at this time (MDC-Manager-Response-to-Formal-Audit-request).  A follow up e-mail to Commissioner Edmonson of District 3, who oversees the CRA area was ignored (Edmonson e-mail)

QUOTES FROM CRA REDEVELOPMENT PLAN RE:HISTORIC PRESERVATION

I. Community Heritage and Historic Preservation
1. Renovation of Historically Significant Buildings
Overtown: The CRA proposes to build on the historic character of the area by preserving and revitalizing historically significant structures in redevelopment Area. Projects will be implemented following the completion of the designation of the significant historic structures for rehabilitation. The Black Archives, History & Research Foundation of South Florida, Inc.’s Master Plan identifies the following objectives as a guide in the redevelopment process:

CITY OF MIAMI TO DEMOLISH HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND DISPLACE LOCAL CHURCH...

We are very concerned about the plan of the City of Miami, the Collins Center, and the Overtown CRA to demolish two historic properties located at 1020 and 1024 NW 2nd ave. A demolition order has been issued and the City plans to destroy these buildings next week. One of the buildings is occupied by a local church of 13 years, who will then have no location to provide services to the community.

The underlying motivation for this effort are the plans for the Collins Center, who owns nearly all of the properties on the surrounding block through their land trust, to assemble properties for another large new development, as they have done for the past ten years. The Collins Center land trust, created with funding from the Knight foundation, is now the second largest property owner in Overtown, after the City of Miami CRA. The stated purpose of the land trust is to "ensure that current residents aren't dislocated once real revitalization efforts begin"

In 2001, the Knight foundation staff asked leaders of the Collins Center for Public Policy, the Local Initiatives Support Corp. and the Trust for Public Land, each of whom had received Knight grants, to collaborate on improving housing, home ownership and the physical character of Overtown. A total of $8.3 million in grants were issued to the three organizations for this purpose. The Foundation's own analysis states:

REDEVELOPMENT PART ONE: BLIGHT MAKES RIGHT

Excerpts from "Redevelopment: The Unknown Government"  Check out the full article at Redevelopment.com


Very Interesting how the same thing that is happening all around the country is duplicated in Miami.

The Unknown Government

Chapter 1

There is an unknown layer of government in California, which few understand.
This unknown government currently consumes 8 percent of all property taxes statewide, $1.5 billion in 1997. It has a total indebtedness of over $41 billion.
It is supported by a powerful Sacramento lobby, backed by an army of lawyers, consultants, bond brokers and land developers.
Unlike new counties, cities and school districts, it can be created without a vote of the citizens affected.

Unlike other levels of government, it can incur bonded indebtedness without voter approval.

Unlike other government entities, it may use the power of eminent domain to benefit private interests.

This unknown government provides no public services. It does not educate our children, maintain our streets, protect us from crime, nor stock our libraries.

It claims to eliminate blight and promote economic development, yet there is no evidence it has done so in the half century since it was created.

City of Miami: Please let us participate in Redevelopment plan modifications as required by State law.

OPEN LETTER TO THE CITY OF MIAMI COMMISSION

Dear Commissioners,
Last week we attended the Special CRA meeting in order to comment on the utter lack of public participation in this plan. Even Commissioner Sarnoff, sitting commissioner for the OMNI area, stated on the record that after three years in office, the first time he had seen the new redevelopment plan was at the beginning of last week.
The item was deferred to the October CRA meeting and it was mentioned that a town hall meeting would be held to discuss the plan with the community. We thought the matter was done. You can imagine we were surprised to receive notice, less than 24 hours before this meeting, of the same item. We feel that this is unacceptable and does not constitute proper public notice and would like to put on the record that we formally contest the validity of this meeting.

WHY IS THERE NO REDEVELOPMENT IN THE REDEVELOPMENT AREA?

Downtown Miami is undergoing a renaissance. As reported in The Herald over recent weeks, dozens of new restaurants and businesses have opened in the Central Business District and Biscayne Blvd North of the Omni is undergoing a strong revival.

However, crossing NE 5th street is like crossing the border from a first world to a third world country. Broken sidewalks, overgrown weeds, collapsing fences, dilapidated parking lots, and very few businesses characterize the neighborhood.

You have just entered the City of Miami’s Community Redevelopment area. Created in 1983, the Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency (SEOPW CRA) is charged with collecting RE Taxes on properties located within its boundaries to “eradicate slum and blight..stimulating the creation of new job opportunities for residents, and improving the quality of life”. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent on “redevelopment” and increased property values have increased the annual income of the SEOPW CRA to $25.5 million in the recently approved 2010 budget. So what is going on? Why is there no redevelopment taking place in the redevelopment area?

The CRA has a troubled past. The original 1982 Redevelopment Plan promised thousands of affordable housing units and a focus on the area surrounding the Metrorail Station, little which has been implemented. A 2003 Internal Audit by Victor Igwe found that the CRA had wasted millions. A 2005 report by the now defunct Oversight Committee appointed by Commissioner Sanchez found that the CRA spending was not true to its mission of reducing slum and blight, did not take into account neighborhood concerns and social issues, and had a very poor process of selecting vendors and awarding contracts. The Committee’s recommendation was a change in the governing structure by placing private citizens with a detailed knowledge of neighborhood issues and concerns on the CRA Board rather than elected officials with political motivations. A Knight Foundation analysis in 2007 found that the CRA followed a “top down” strategy not taking into account the needs and wants of residents, and “a common vision for Overtown’s redevelopment does not exist, most plans are piecemeal, others lack community support”.