Vote ‘No’ on Miami Referendum 3
Damian Pardo is the City of Miami commissioner representing District 2, which includes Coconut Grove. He shared this opinion piece with the Spotlight in advance of the August 20 election.
Let’s be clear, I — like most Miamians — am absolutely in favor of outdoor gyms; just not in favor of a commissioner who weaponizes government to win a dispute against the very people he pretends to serve.
On Aug. 20, Miami voters have an opportunity to send a message to city hall and to one commissioner in particular. That message: Residents deserve to be respected.
They should vote “no” on a proposed charter amendment, which will appear on the ballot for voters inside city limits as Miami Referendum 3. The ballot item asks whether the city should keep already installed outdoor gym equipment at Maurice A. Ferré Park.
This referendum is another attempt by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo to keep an unwanted outdoor gym at the downtown park, despite significant neighborhood opposition, a ruling from the Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board and a vote from city commissioners.
Readers unfamiliar with this latest controversy involving Carollo may ask why there’s such opposition to an outdoor gym? Let’s start at the beginning.
Every part of this process has been flawed and is another example of why Magic City residents have lost faith in their government. There was no public input prior to the gym equipment being installed. I actually represent the downtown neighborhood; Carollo does not, though he was given oversight of the Bayfront Trust Park,which ordered the gym equipment installed at Maurice Ferre Park.
Residents overwhelmingly support keeping the park as a passive and natural park 365 days a year and free from any further commercialization. I know residents would have been very vocal against any outdoor gym had they been informed that it would be a part of the park. But neighbors only learned of the no-bid gym after installation work began.
Dozens of residents in the vertical neighborhoods surrounding the waterfront park, including homeowner association leaders representing thousands of residents, took time away from their families and professional obligations to attend multiple planning meetings to be on-record opposing the gym that Carollo insists on having there.
Residents made clear that they wanted to preserve green space in Ferre Park and not add an outdoor gym that would have very limited use.
The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board and the Miami City Commission sided with residents in District 2, concluding that the gym equipment was not properly permitted and its design feature was never included in the city’s master plan. The controversy should have ended there, but it did not.
While I was on a previously announced absencefrom a commission meeting, Carollo used a technicality (a “pocket item”) to force a misleading question on the ballot instead of removing the gym equipment as residents had demanded and as the appeals board ruled should happen.
To make matters worse, the question on the ballot could not be more misleading.
Carollo compares the equipment in Ferre Park to other parks within the city. But Carollo’s justification for the Bayfront Park Trust having oversight of Ferre Park is because it is not a “neighborhood park” and is unlike all other municipal parks. It is nonsensical and another example of a city official misusing their authority.
This ballot question is about a lot more than an outdoor gym. It is about residents having the right to have a say on any matter impacting their neighborhood. It is about rejecting a political slight of hand meant to disenfranchise the very residents who use the park on a daily basis.
Each challenge provides us with an opportunity. In this election, voters can send a clear message to Carollo and everyone at city hall that residents are tired of being played, ignored and bullied. I ask that Miami voters support their neighbors in District 2 and vote “no” on Miami Referendum 3.
Commissioner Damian Pardo represents Miami’s District 2, which includes Coconut Grove.
