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1614-3 Various Miami Beach THU OCT 20 1983 ED: NEIGHBORS SECTION: NEIGHBORS MB PAGE: 6 LENGTH: 1440 LONG ILLUST: photo: Sidney Weisburd, Rochelle Malek, Daniel Retter, Rolin Rodriguez, Barbara Capitman URCE: SUSAN FALUDI Herald Staff Writer LATELINE: MEMO: CAMPAIGN ' 83 see separate biographies on the above candidates GROUP VI SEES REVIVING ECONOMY AS MAIN TASK Resuscitating Miami Beach' s economy is the major task facing the next City Commission, the candidates in the Group VI race say. But none agrees on a plan. Restore the art deco district and investors will naturally follow, art deco devotee Barbara Capitman says. "Close down the slums on South Beach and move the undesirables out, " says lawyer Daniel Retter, who led the battle to restrict adult board-and-care homes. Unify the community' s ethnic groups in a drive to bring back business, says Rolin Rodriguez, the city' s former director of consumer services. Offer incentives to developers who will build new real estate and hotels, Sidney Weisburd, registrar for the University of Miami, says. "Make the city look good, " school teacher Rochelle Malek says. None of the candidates has held political office before. Rodriguez is a former city employe. The highest ranking Hispanic in City Hall, Rodriguez resigned from the consumer service post in July to manage a public relations office in South ich and run for commissioner. Each candidate has his own crusade. Capitman, who has led the revival of the art deco district in South Beach, believes preservation will cure a multitude of the city' s ailments -- from the decline in tourism to the fear of crime. Her opponents accuse her of caring only about art deco. "They are trying to paint me as a one-issue candidate, but that just shows their own parochialism, " Capitman said. "What I 've done with art deco encompasses so many aspects of the Beach. It brings investment, makes for good media, provides a marketing and development plan, replaces negativism with an upbeat vision of what this city can be. " While Capitman talks incessantly of preserving a city' s history, Retter concentrates with equally singleminded fervor on demolishing the slums of South Beach. "If you shut down these rat holes, the undesirables will leave, " Retter said. "There is an old Talmudic saying: ' It ' s not the mice who are the criminals. It is the holes in the walls that are the criminals. ' " He promises to get rid of the dilapidated housing by "quadrupling the number of city inspectors, " sending them out with police officers and condemning as many of these buildings as possible. Retter is just as passionate about restricting adult board- and-care homes, some of which he considers as bad as the South Beach slums. From behind the scenes, he lobbied hard for the current city ordinance banning the homes from Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue and other main streets. As chairman of the Committee to Control ACLFS (adult congregate living -cilities, another term for the homes) , Retter directed the petition drive to ice on the November ballot a series of questions on further restricting the omes, which provide limited personal care. If residents vote yes in answer to the questions, changes in zoning laws for board-and-care homes will require a city vote; new homes will require a unanimous commission vote. His opponents say Retter just wants to keep off the Beach all but the wealthiest and healthiest. They say he is anti- elderly. He denies these charges vigorously. "I recognize the fact that the elderly are a vital asset to our city itic, " Retter said. Their expenditures in the city "feed our professionals make it economically possible for our city to function. " He said he would help the elderly by spending city money to build bus shelters at every stop and provide better entertainment for the elderly at the 21st Street Community Center. Rodriguez ' s crusade is what he likes to call the unification of the Beach community. "I feel the community is very much broken apart. " He believes he is the man to unify the city because he has contacts in every ethnic group from his days in City Hall. He wants to organize merchants to revive Lincoln Road Mall. He wants to organize residents in South Beach to launch a community-based, crime-fighting operation. As director of the city ' s consumer services, Rodriguez championed Hispanic affairs . He pushed for more money for a city program that provided housing for refugees of the 1980 Mariel boatlift. Weisburd has his own pet phrase -- the city' s problems stem from "a lack of continuity. " A rapid turnover in executive directors and board members on the Visitor and Convention Authority (VCA) has spawned confusion. A lack of continuity has cost the city many opportunities for luring developers to the Beach, he said. As a result, the economic development of the city is "at the crossroads of total deterioration, " Weisburd said. "The next two years are critical. " Weisburd said he wants to reverse the city' s economic fortunes by offering incentives to developers who will invest in South Beach and build new hotels. Malek says she believes cleaning up the city is the key to solving a lot the Beach' s problems . "I want to see that Miami Beach not only looks good, but that it has city services that work well, " she said. She would beef up beach clean-up, re- evaluate the city' s contracts with Metro services and review all city maintenance programs. Improving the city' s economy and its future as a tourist attraction also hinges on improving its image, the candidates say. Weisburd would like to cultivate "an outdoor-oriented" image. "We must create activities and special events to make Miami Beach an exciting place where there is something to do all the time, " he said. Malek wants the city to sponsor festivals and bring back nighttime events. Rodriguez wants to get rid of the city' s image as a hostile place where "tourists feel mistreated and robbed by merchants. " Retter believes the city has a bad reputation among developers that must be eliminated. "No one is coming here because the word is out that unless you grease the right palms and pay off particular public relations men and particular architects and particular attorneys, then forget it. " Capitman says everybody talks of boosting the city' s image, but only she can point to dozens of positive articles written about the art deco district, the establishment of Art Deco Weekend and the pilgrimages of artists to view the historic district. All the candidates except for Rodriguez support the $22 million bond issue to renovate Miami Beach ' s Theatre for the Performing Arts (TOPA) . They contend that cultivating culture is part of improving the city' s image. But Rodriguez said, "I 'd rather spend money to buy slum hotels and sell m to people who will develop them. We don't need to bring new talent. We have got the talent here. We 've got the Miami Beach Symphony. " As for the VCA' s track record in fostering tourism, only Weisburd has anything positive to say. "I think they are doing as good a job as they can do, " considering the turnover in VCA members, Weisburd said. He believes more continuity of VCA staff and working with the county will make the agency more effective. Weisburd supports the VCA' s efforts to coordinate tourism promotion with county. He favors establishing "a super tourism agency funded by private elopers. " The other candidates say the VCA has accomplished nothing. Rodriguez is angry that the VCA has eliminated its Latin American salesman. If elected, he would push to restore that post and pursue Latin business. The VCA should be subordinated to a city department, Capitman said. "It ' s tended to be headed by people who are not creative or visionary, " she said. Most of the candidates would like to see changes in the city' s zoning laws. Zoning densities should be increased on South Beach to attract developers of planned community developments for young professionals, similar to housing in Kendall, Retter said. Densities should be increased in commercial areas, decreased by the oceanfront to encourage the building of townhouses there, Weisburd said. Rodriguez says he wants "to take the book and turn it over" by weakening the zoning laws to encourage building. Capitman believes that some of the antiquated laws should be liberalized to take into account "that we have the second largest historic district in the country. " Capitman is the strongest proponent of a tougher historic preservation law that would protect the entire historic district and take the decision of demolishing buildings away from the property owners. Weisburd would also like to see a stronger historic preservation law that defines the historic district as "a contiguous area. " Retter agrees that the law should be stiffer, but warns "I don't want to use art deco as an excuse maintain decrepit buildings. " Malek said, "I really need to weigh the pros and cons" of the law. Rodriguez said he was "not too familiar with the ordinance they have now. " The candidates have mixed emotions on what to do with the eight acres next to North Shore Open Space Park that the city is considering taking over and adding to the park. Weisburd and Capitman favor taking over the land. Retter believes the land should be rezoned for transient hotels and motels . Malek and Rodriguez say that the city has enough parks. Only Retter opposes expanding the convention center. "They have things backwards, " he said. "People come here because the city is attractive, not because it has a nice convention center. " Rettery says he is running because there is a "silent majority who is mad and seething" and wants him to run. Malek is running because, "I have two children, 16 and 6, and I would like them to stay in the Miami Beach area. " "We 've got to make certain that the city is run by people who will bring government back to the people, " Weisburd said of his reasons for entering the campign. Rodriguez said he is running because, "I have a lot of experience and I 'm honest. " And Capitman believes she has the background in marketing and preservation to make Miami Beach great again. ADDED TERMS: campaign election candidate mb economy opinion END OF DOCUMENT.