Spotlight 240917 Joyce Nelson

In the Spotlight,

Joyce Nelson, a leader of Grove activism.
Pardo discusses City’s $3.5 billion budget.
West Grove redevelopment agency–a restart?

The Spotlight‘s Village People series turns to a leading voice of preserving the Grove’s “feel”, while Commissioner Pardo discusses City budget priorities. Recent stories are highlighted below and full stories, opinions and letters are always available story on our website. The Spotlight search tool excels at finding the news that matters to you.

Joyce Nelson: Coconut Grove’s Dean of Civic Activism

A fierce advocate for trees, history and community, Nelson’s passion for preservation has left an indelible mark on Grove landscape.

by Mike Clary

Joyce Nelson, pictured here on Election Day 1992 (Photo by Michael Carlebach)

After decades of paying close attention to the world around her, there are certain trees and canopied streets in Coconut Grove that activist Joyce Nelson knows like old friends.

Often she knows them because she fought to preserve them.

The spreading banyan by Grovenor House on South Bayshore Drive, for example, and the live oak in the parking lot of the CVS on Grand Avenue – both at one time slated for removal. Or the royal palm that her father gave her as a sapling and stands today at the corner of Day Avenue and Virginia Avenue as a sturdy tribute to the tree itself and the tenacity of the woman who planted it.

“I just did what needed to be done,” Nelson said recently from her shady longtime home in the North Grove. “I wanted to save the feel of where we live. I wanted people to know: This is different. This is the Grove. Period.”

Tax Time at Miami City Hall

Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo talks about his budget priorities ahead of the City Commission’s final budget hearing on Thursday September 26.

by Don Finefrock

It’s budget season at City Hall, and last call for residents to speak up about Miami’s proposed $3.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1. The City Commission held its first budget hearing on September 7. The meeting was sparsely attended – only about two dozen people spoke. A final budget hearing is scheduled for Thursday September 26 at 5:05 p.m. Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo sat down with the Spotlight last week to discuss the proposed budget and his funding priorities for the year.

A New Push for a West Grove CRA?

The fight over the fate of the Omni CRA is prompting West Grove leaders to remind Miami commissioners of the commitment they made in 2021.

by Don Finefrock

The political brawl at Miami City Hall over the future of the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is reviving a long-stalled effort to establish a similar economic engine in the West Grove.

The Miami City Commission has been tied in knots for months over the fate of the Omni CRA, a city agency that invests in affordable housing and other revitalization projects.

Should the life of the Omni CRA be extended with its current boundaries intact, or should those boundaries be expanded to include the neighborhood of Allapattah?

The question has devolved into a showdown between District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo and his District 1 counterpart, Miguel Gabela.