After he won his fake “agritourism” item — which is really a free-for-all at the Redland for food trucks and wedding parties — Miami-Dade Commissioner Kionne McGhee had an impromptu rally at County Hall with his supporters and called other constituents liars and interlopers for opposing his measure.
“Some of the things you heard on the record here, they were not true,” he tells a press room full of people wearing red t-shirts to support his measure, riling them up for a photo op. “They were making up stuff. And I’m sitting there like, ‘Wow, like, you can really make up stuff.'”
No details on what the opponents made up. Because, like, wow, McGhee can really make up stuff. It was poetic. But it wouldn’t matter anyway since these liars don’t really live in the Redland, McGhee said.
“The majority of the people who spoke today, they don’t live down south. They live, like, in Biscayne Bay. They live in Broward,” he said, unaware he was being captured on video.
Ladra wonders if he is talking about Michael Wanek, founder and president of the Redland Homes and Farms Association. Or did McGhee mean Mary Waters, a longtime activist who was actually elected chair of Community Council 14? Or was he talking about Gary Wilkins, a third generation farmer who has lived blocks from Monkey Jungle since 1951?
Read related: Redland residents worry about move to allow food trucks, parking on farmlands
This is the way to deal with critics in your constituency? Or is it by attacking the Fourth Estate? Because McGhee had a few words for yours truly, too.
“I got beat up in the newspaper by some blogger because they want to change the narrative and say that we want to destroy the Redland,” said McGhee, who knows exactly who Ladra is and has always answered her calls before. “They moved to the agricultural zone. The agriculture was there before they moved there so now they want to change the way of life for those of us in the agricultural zone.”
Does he even believe his own fertilizer? After all, the people in the red shirts represent an organization called Miami Agritourism Farm Association, which, according to Florida Division of Corporation records, was formed in April of this year. That’s less than three months ago. And it was formed by people with the same last name and same address as Three Star Investments, the same company that owns the By Brothers Family Park, a farm turned into a theme park for children.
And some might argue MAFA was formed for just this reason. (Ooops, there goes that blogger beating him up again.)
One of the red shirts who spoke in favor of the change, Eladio Bruceno, purchased his farm on 152nd Avenue for $900,000 in 2020. The rest of them don’t look like farmers but rather people with jobs at the theme park.
The purpose stated on the new and vague MAFA website: “To promote and preserve agricultural farms and agritourism activities by providing unique experiences that combine nature, art and entertainment.”
McGhee’s ordinance — which now goes to a committee before coming back on second reading — would deregulate several types of non-agricultural businesses on farmland. Things like food trucks, wineries, distilleries, breweries, wedding venues and more — including “distribution vehicle storage,” which is code for “parking lot for 18-wheelers” — would be able to operate without any certificate of occupancy, which would remove some oversight.
It would change the maximum truck parking allowance from 0.4 trucks per acre to unlimited. Unlimited! How is that a good idea? It is more so indicative of why and where this is going.
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Among McGhee’s supporters, developer Lewis Swezy, who owns a company called Redland Crossings and who contributed $20,000 to McGhee’s 2021 campaign accounts. Could the commissioner really be trying to protect agriculture from development? Remember, McGhee is the same guy who wanted to turn 800 acres of farmland across the Urban Development Boundary into an industrial park and warehouse distribution center.
“Now the real fight happens. This was just to let them know that we are present and we are not leaving,” McGhee told more than two dozen people in red shirts. “In September we are going to have a major, major push. We should actually have everybody we know here so they can hear our voices,” he said.
But, hey, if those voices speak against the measure, they are lying out-of-towners.
Video: Kionne McGhee attacks constituents, calls Redland critics liars added by Ladra on
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