It looks like that famous Harvard education that Miami-Commissioner Juan Zapata 
is getting — which has brought him so much grief — hasn’t helped him understand the difference between a true mandate and a marketing plan.
Zapata, who has been against the Pet’s Trust Initiative voted by almost 65% of the residents in 2012, used the word mandate in a strongly-penned memo to Mayor Carlos Gimenez last month about the possibility of having the Dade County Youth Fair share its grounds with FIU, which wants to expand on the county owned park property Miami-Dade leases to the Fair.
“As the commissioner whose districts includes both FIU and Tamiami Park, I am urging you to strongly oppose any such idea, and to immediately take steps toward supporting the expansion of FIU , as dictated by voters,” Zapata wrote Dec. 17.
As dictated by voters? Really?
Let’s refresh his memory, shall we? Voters approved a measure in 2014 that would give FIU the same waiver on use of park land that the Dade County Youth Fair and Expo has on its lease and that any expansion — if it happened independently — wouldn’t cost the county a penny. The vote was not to push the Youth Fair out.
Read related story: Juan Zapata to Mayor: ‘Where’s the money?’ and ‘Cut taxes’
But, hey, it gave Zap a chance to swipe at the mayor and maybe give him a little payback slap for leaking that county payment to Harvard that the commissioner said he always intended to reimburse. And that’s what this really is about: 
An opportunity for Zapata, who has butt heads with the mayor on multiple budget and infrastructure issues, to turn the heat up on his political rival.
“It is difficult to understand why your administration has allowed the eighth largest public university take a back seat to the selfish interests of a three-week county fair,” Zapata wrote. “FIU has expended considerable time, effort and resources on this initiative and the expansion of FIU will benefit everyone in this community. The fair’s delay tactics and your lack of strong leadership on this issue are no longer acceptable to me as county commissioner of this area.”
I guess Zap would want to break the rock solid lease the Youth Fair has through 2085 and risk having to pay millions in penalties? I guess it’s worth the noted $900 million in construction and the billions more in yearly economic impact that the proposed expansion is projected to have.
“How can we possibly ignore this for so long?! Your administration continues to support the creation of low paying jobs while squandering incredible opportunities to create numerous high paying jobs that would result from FIU’s expansion,” Zapata wrote.
“The Fair is not vital to the long-term well-being of this community but rest assured that Florida International University is and its impact will continue to grow. It is my duty as county commissioner and my privilege as a proud FIU alum to urge that you move forward with FIU’s expansion onto the fair grounds site. The voters have already spoken on this issue.”
There he goes again. Zapata knows full well that voters did not vote to move the Fair so FIU could take over the county property.
Read related story: FIU’s bully battle vs. Youth Fair keeps costing us plenty
Mayor Gimenez reminded Zap of this little fact in his own memo, fired off Dec. 29 in response. It reminded him of the rock solid lease. It reminded him of the four locations that the county and FIU are still trying to push on the Fair folks. 
It reminded him of the ballot language that voters approved, which was not to move the Fair. And it reminded him of costs.
“Certain relocation scenarios may cost tens of millions of dollars in order to meet the conditions of the Fair’s lease. Miami-Dade County cannot and will not be exposed to any costs,” Gimenez wrote, adding that FIU is unwilling or unable to guarantee anything over $50 million in costs.
And the winner of this particular pissing match is Gimenez, who nevertheless snidely urged Zap to sponsor legislation endorsing the South Dade site (which all county sources tell Ladra is the preferred location for the county).
But the mayor should also take another read of his own memo and put the brakes on his involvement in this whole exercise in futility. He should not get embroiled later this month as more reports and analyses come in from FIU (saying what a great location South Dade is) and the Youth Fair (saying absolutely not). But he will probably take these contradictory reports and have his staff pore over them to review and discuss a move that the Fair doesn’t want to make.
Hasta cuando? We’ve been at this for two and a half years because, yes, the discussions began before the ballot question which was a way for FIU to pressure the Youth Fair because it wasn’t getting what it wants.
Let FIU and the Fair work it out and bring back a proposal they both agree to before the county spends one more man hour on writing memos about this.
Juan Zapata enters FIU/Fair fight to slap down the mayor added by Ladra on
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