Grace Solares Recipient of a UEL Orchid Award

Grace Solares was presented with the UEL Orchid Award for Best Neighborhood Activist by Mayor Tomas Regalado:

Grace Solares was one of the founders of Miami Neighborhoods United,
a coalition of 21 City of Miami Neighborhood Associations. She now serves
as their President. She has been a champion for residential
neighborhoods in the new City of Miami zoning code “Miami 21.” Grace is
making sure city residents interests are protected in the new code. She also
took on City of Miami leaders to oppose the funding of the Marlins
Stadium. We want to thank Grace Solares for her commitment to the
community and for her partnership on numerous issues and events with the UEL.

More from the Orchid's and Onion's Awards.

Pictured above are UEL Treasurer Babara Falsey and Deputy Director of Parks, Alex Munoz. Munoz accepted the award presented to Howard Gregg, his predecessor at Parks and Recreation. This was the copy from the award he received for "Lifetime Achievement in Planning":

Howard Gregg’s contributions to the Miami Dade County Park and Recreation system over his 34 year career are too numerous to mention. To mention just a few: under his leadership the Department more than doubled its land holdings, from 6,000 to 12,000 acres; he helped establish the Natural Areas Management Division (NAM) which restores natural habitat; and he recently led the development of the Park and Open Space System Master Plan; a 50 year vision for making Miami-Dade County a healthier and more livable community. We wish him well in retirement in the land of orchids – Hawaii.

Pictured below is UEL intern, Jenny Leizerovich, posing with City of Miami Mayor, Tomas Regalado. Mayor Regalado was there to present an award to Grace Solares as "Best Neighborhood Activist."

Andres Viglucci writes about Mayor Regalado Appearance at UEL Dinner

02/18/2010
Regalado to UEL: Expect no grand plans, but thy will be done – like Miami Marine Stadium restoration

First, the news: Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado told an Urban Environment League forum Wednesday evening to expect an announcement soon about $3 million in seed money for Miami Marine Stadium restoration. Details in three weeks.

Among mostly friends, Regalado was chatty and relaxed, reiterating positions that must have sounded like sweet music to the audience.

I.E,: He still doesn’t think the port tunnel is a good idea; he’s “skeptical’’ the Miami Art Museum and Miami Science Museum have the fundraising muscle to meet their financial commitments towards new homes in Museum Park; the Miami River should be preserved as a working waterway; and he intends to amend the Miami 21 zoning code, approved by the previous commission but frozen by the new administration, to incorporate a laundry list of rejected amendments that had been proposed by neighborhood activists (interesting to see how that comes out since some appeared to be unworkable).

Still no overarching vision and little evidence of an appetite for one, other than a promise for greater transparency and public participation in government decisions and operations – to, as he put it, “reclaim the city for the residents.’’

But what started to emerge, perhaps, was hints of a strategy, if that’s what it is: A piecemeal approach that eschews the sweeping plans and multi-generational vision of his predecessor, Manny Diaz, for building blocks that can set in place in short order. Perhaps the right thing for parlous times and, as Regalado put it, widespread “government fatigue’’ on the part of voters?

That’s what struck me when he was asked if he favored forming a trust to guide master planning and restoration of Virginia Key. Why? he responded. Instead, he said, focus on something achievable – like renovating the landmark Marine Stadium.

“I’m not going to promise the people we are going to have the greatest thing ever on Virginia Key. I don’t know that,’’ he said, in what was perhaps a dig at Diaz, who came in for his share of them during the talk.

“But I know we can do Marine Stadium. This should be our immediate goal. If we do Marine Stadium, then people will believe Virginia Key can be done.’’

Other tidbits:

* The city will drop appeals of court decisions that struck down certain condo projects on the river as incompatible with the city’s comprehensive development plan. The comp plan will be re-amended to restore protections for marine-oriented businesses.

* He and new City Commissioner Richard Dunn will “do something’’ about severe underuse at the new $20 million Little Haiti Cultural Center (see below).

* He will seek to foster economic development in the city through expansion of the city’s film industry and revitalization of industrial zones in Allapattah, Little Haiti and Wynwood.

Posted by Andres Viglucci at 01:23 PM

Tomas Regalado at the UEL Dinner Last Night

Pictured: Mayor Tomas Regalado joined by daughter Raquel and son Jose Francisco.

About 75 people were in attendance for a delicious dinner at the Rusty Pelican to hear Tomas Regalado speak about his vision for Miami. The interview was informative and can be viewed soon on the UEL website. The Mayor spoke about his Pedro Pan background, arriving in 1962 at 14 years old. He said he was committed to restoring Marine Stadium and did not want a lot of development. He wanted to see a few restaurants. He advocates for the former comprehensive master plan language on the Miami River regarding water dependent uses. He talked about his frustration with coming into office simultaneous to two Commissioners being removed from office. He called it a Christmas present from Katherine Fernandez Rundle. He also said he is a big supporter of the Science Museum, having taken his son there many times over the years but he doubts that they can raise the money to finance the museum in Bicentennial Park. This led to a discussion on his recollection of the Adrienne Arsht Center funding, how it started out and then ballooned to a staggering amount over the years.

What's in store for Miami's Future? Our Feb. 17 Dinner Subject

It seems that the good Mayor of Miami is everywhere talking about the City right now. The Urban Environment League wants to take a unique approach in our interview with Mayor Tomas Regalado. We want to flesh out his vision for the City, we want to hear the bigger picture. We hope that we can accomplish this task.

You can email us any questions you might have for him, and we will consider asking them. Our email is: uelinfo@bellsouth.net. Thank you.

UEL Dinner February 17: An Evening With Mayor Tomas Regalado

Hit the image to enlarge it.

Swearing in of City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado.

Former City of Miami District 4 Commissioner Tomas Regalado will be sworn in as Mayor of Miami during a ceremony on Wednesday, November 11th, at 12 noon, at Miami City Hall.