While Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez leads a delegation to Paris to advance a plan for a major international aviation show in the middle of the historic Everglades, an army is assembling for battle to oppose it.
Please consider becoming involved in a legal defense effort to stop in its tracks Miami-Dade County's latest aviation scheme: a major international aviation exposition in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve.
The location is the exact site of the late Everglades Jetport Battle. Miami New Times just published an excellent investigative report by Jessica Weiss on the latest insult-in-progress: "Fiery Debate Over Miami Air Show In Everglades".
County Manager Jack Osterholt and Mayor Gimenez are kicking a hornet's nest in the middle of the Big Cypress National Preserve, part of the historic Everglades, and stirring the hot coals of past aviation battles in south Florida: the memory of the Everglades Jetport and the Homestead Air Force Base fiascos.
So while the Mayor and his "Entourage" prepare for a "state visit" in Paris -- to attend the Air Show and other off-schedule fun, we hope they keep in mind, while they do so, a kicked hornet's nest.
We've published a few pieces on the Air Show:
Mayor off to gay Paree - May 18th
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2015/02/is-mayor-off-to-gay-paree-again-this.html
Paris Ooh La La Trip- June 2nd
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2015/06/more-on-miami-brass-trip-to-ooh-la-la.html
International Aviation Show - April 1st
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2015/04/international-aviation-show-in.html
Mayor Gimenez' political vulnerability is the perception he is one more mayor insulated, as other Miami-Dade mayors before him, from criticism and surrounded by people who have learned not to test his patience by challenging his views. As a county commissioner, Mayor Gimenez once encouraged diverse points of view and was willing to listen, but he changed.
Judging from documents and statements, his view is that the air show in the Everglades Jetport will happen irrespective of what citizens think. County manager Jack Osterholt laughed about the plan's environmental sensitivities to Miami New Times ("Asked if he is aware of the environmental sensitivity of the jetport as the host for a potential air show, Osterholt laughs. "Everybody... knows the story of the Everglades Jetport," he says.)
Osterholt claimed to the New Times that a major air show in the Big Cypress will have "zero environmental impact". There has been zero outreach to the not-for-profit environmental groups that are significantly invested in permanently protecting the Big Cypress from industrial incursions. And because there has been zero outreach, it is a virtual certainty these issues will need to be ventilated in federal court.
I lead the battle to stop the Homestead Air Force Base fiasco in the 1990's and am board chair of the non-profit, Friends of the Everglades, founded in 1969 over the battle to protect against the Everglades Jetport itself, the same location for the newest planned incursion.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his team are headed to Paris to promote this idea but from EOM's perspective, like other schemes before it, this one will also "fail to launch". Here are a few county documents that detail the planning behind-the-public's-back by the Everglades Jetport enthusiasts.
Readers who are so inclined, please share this post on Facebook and other social networks and consider giving generously to the not-for-profit groups that will likely fight this plan. If you would like to become involved, please contact Friends of the Everglades. Perhaps Al Gore wants to help make things right in South Florida?
Please consider becoming involved in a legal defense effort to stop in its tracks Miami-Dade County's latest aviation scheme: a major international aviation exposition in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve.
The location is the exact site of the late Everglades Jetport Battle. Miami New Times just published an excellent investigative report by Jessica Weiss on the latest insult-in-progress: "Fiery Debate Over Miami Air Show In Everglades".
County Manager Jack Osterholt and Mayor Gimenez are kicking a hornet's nest in the middle of the Big Cypress National Preserve, part of the historic Everglades, and stirring the hot coals of past aviation battles in south Florida: the memory of the Everglades Jetport and the Homestead Air Force Base fiascos.
So while the Mayor and his "Entourage" prepare for a "state visit" in Paris -- to attend the Air Show and other off-schedule fun, we hope they keep in mind, while they do so, a kicked hornet's nest.
We've published a few pieces on the Air Show:
Mayor off to gay Paree - May 18th
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2015/02/is-mayor-off-to-gay-paree-again-this.html
Paris Ooh La La Trip- June 2nd
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2015/06/more-on-miami-brass-trip-to-ooh-la-la.html
International Aviation Show - April 1st
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2015/04/international-aviation-show-in.html
Mayor Gimenez' political vulnerability is the perception he is one more mayor insulated, as other Miami-Dade mayors before him, from criticism and surrounded by people who have learned not to test his patience by challenging his views. As a county commissioner, Mayor Gimenez once encouraged diverse points of view and was willing to listen, but he changed.
Judging from documents and statements, his view is that the air show in the Everglades Jetport will happen irrespective of what citizens think. County manager Jack Osterholt laughed about the plan's environmental sensitivities to Miami New Times ("Asked if he is aware of the environmental sensitivity of the jetport as the host for a potential air show, Osterholt laughs. "Everybody... knows the story of the Everglades Jetport," he says.)
Osterholt claimed to the New Times that a major air show in the Big Cypress will have "zero environmental impact". There has been zero outreach to the not-for-profit environmental groups that are significantly invested in permanently protecting the Big Cypress from industrial incursions. And because there has been zero outreach, it is a virtual certainty these issues will need to be ventilated in federal court.
I lead the battle to stop the Homestead Air Force Base fiasco in the 1990's and am board chair of the non-profit, Friends of the Everglades, founded in 1969 over the battle to protect against the Everglades Jetport itself, the same location for the newest planned incursion.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his team are headed to Paris to promote this idea but from EOM's perspective, like other schemes before it, this one will also "fail to launch". Here are a few county documents that detail the planning behind-the-public's-back by the Everglades Jetport enthusiasts.
Readers who are so inclined, please share this post on Facebook and other social networks and consider giving generously to the not-for-profit groups that will likely fight this plan. If you would like to become involved, please contact Friends of the Everglades. Perhaps Al Gore wants to help make things right in South Florida?
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