Letter from David Kelsey 3/17/3FROM : S B HOTELS PHONE NO. : 3056739910 Mar. 13 2003 08:07AM P2
David Kelsey
407 Lincoln P~oad #
M~ami Beach, Florida 33 ! 39
(305) 673-0440
Math 17~, 2003
Via Fax 305-673-7254
MEMO
To: Robert Parcher/City Clerk
Re: Charter Review Committee
In addition to the issues bro~u,gh~t, to the attention of the Charter Review Committee in my
memo to you of February 28 (a change in thc way Commissioners aye elected - from at
large "group" seats to election from three geographic Districts; and a change from a City
Manager form of government to a Strong Mayor form of government), 1 would like to
add the following items'.
Regaydin_~Center Redevelopment Agencies (I~DA'
I believe that the enormous waste of taxpayer money uncovered a few years ago in the
South Point RDA (a loss in excess of $35 million dollars for the preceding ten year
period) was a direct result of a lack of a lack of effective and meaningful oversight
caused by allowSng members of the City Commission and the city administration to act in
a dual capacity (as both the City Commission and city administration, and az the RDA
Board and RDA administration).
This commingling of responsibilities effectively reduced, if not eliminated, any public
scrutiny of the RDA and it's finances for almost two decades, and it continues to do so
today, az can be witnessed by the cursory review of RDA activities and finances given at
each Commission meeting.
This situation needs to change, especially as property tax contributions to the RDA
continue to escalate into the millions of dollars each year. I believe that the time is long ·
overdue for a separate and independent RDA Board, perhaps elected by the people rather
than appoimed by the Commission, with regular televised public meetings, and 1 am
requesting that the Charter Review Committee ~ve this matter cor~sideration.
There is another related issue raised by County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro (District
Five), and that is the issue of Commissioner Barreiro's request, recently made to the City
Commission, that a representative of the County Attorney's office and a representative of
the County Manager's office be included on the Miami Beach RDA Board(s). This
seems reasonable considering that half of the property tax money collected by the RDA is
coming from the County.
Thank you for your~ation of these requests.