Five Reasons Why City Hall Should Stay Put

To the Editor:

In no particular order, here are five reasons why City Hall should not be moved to Freedom Park.

1. The first reason is that the existing facility is ideally placed. Dinner Key is a spectacular location; it’s centric and can be reached easily from all parts of the city. Even those in the Northeast and Northwest can reach City Hall by car, using I-95 to US 1, or by using the city’s free trolley service.

2. There’s extensive parking at Dinner Key. Moreover, it should be free at all times, but if not, at least during any commission or board meeting.

3. Freedom Park is one of the least accessible places in all of Miami. Who wants to fight airport traffic, stadium traffic and the many trucks that service the warehouse district immediately to the north? There’s very little parking now; can you imagine if a city building is located there – as is apparently being considered?

4. Miami City Hall is a historic building that evokes Miami’s Caribbean location and the building’s historic function as an airport used by Pan American Clipper seaplanes, including the one that brought FDR from Havana. Visitors, including officials from other cities, are enthralled when they see what our seat of democracy looks like. It’s the people’s house and it has no dress code, except for sandals, shorts and shirt. (Men can probably get away without shirts outside the commission chambers…)

Read More: Life After City Hall: Imagining Dinner Key’s Next Chapter

5. The fifth is the most important: We don’t need an administration building of any kind in Freedom Park. With the advent of AI, almost all administrative functions of a city will be automated. In the private sector, AI will reduce administrative positions by about 30%; government, if run efficiently, will experience the same effect. And it will free up enormous sums for employees who manage and coach in the parks; recycle and dispose of our garbage; and clean, beautify and police our streets and public areas. 

I could list other reasons, including what economists call the “transactional cost” of moving a government facility. During the last mayoral campaign, I was asked about Miami’s “capital improvement projects.” My answer was that unless they meant improvements to our existing parks, the only capital projects we should be dealing with were the Marine Stadium and the Coconut Grove Playhouse. 

Miami doesn’t need any new administration buildings – let alone a new city hall. 

Xavier Suarez
Miami

Editor’s Note: Xavier Suarez is a former mayor of the City of Miami.