Negotiations between the county and the operators at Homestead Speedway to put on a rodeo will have to wait. A proposal at the Miami-Dade Commission to establish a countywide rodeo, farmer’s market and farm show was deferred Wednesday after Miami-Dade Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins expressed several concerns.
There was no discussion with the Homestead Rodeo Association, which has put on the rodeo at Harris Field for 75 years, Cohen Higgins said. The last one was just this past January.
Cohen Higgins was also uncomfortable with moving the event from a public location to a private venue because of “the potential for an increase in ticket price,” she added.
Commissioner Kionne McGhee, who sponsored the item, didn’t make it to the super short meeting on time — possibly the shortest meeting in county history — so the item was deferred to no date certain.
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McGhee had gotten some shaky support from his colleagues on the matter when it went before the Chairman’s Policy Council earlier this week. But there was a lot more discussion.
“This is not anything against rodeos, but it seems like we’re doing a lot of different rodeos,” said Chairman Oliver Gilbert, whose distaste for the sporting event was on full display. “We can’t just have one big county rodeo?”
He suggested that Vice Chair Anthony Rodriguez, who has a rodeo event in his district at Tropical Park, Commissioner Cohen Higgins and McGee get together and merge their events. “We can invest in that,” Gilbert said. “Maybe we ought to start looking at one big rodeo.”
Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who did not say a word at Wednesday’s meeting, told the policy council members she had gone to the rodeo and spoke with the organizers. “From their perspective, Harris Field is changing and they’ve grown out of their space,” Regalado said. “That’s part of the problem. They don’t have enough space.”
She stopped, however, at the notion of merging the rodeos. “I understand that we shouldn’t be fighting over rodeos and we shouldn’t have 10 rodeos, but the Homestead Rodeo is a very established rodeo and I think the purpose of this item is for it to stay in Homestead.
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“We can have two,” Regalado said. “In Westchester and in South Dade. It makes total sense.”
The Speedway makes sense, too, Regalado said. It has the space, the parking and the neighborhood wouldn’t be surprised at another big event. But there would have to be some adjustments made. “That’s a conversation that will help us do more events,” Regalado said, adding that McGhee has been wanting to have more events. “Once he has the bleachers and he has the set up, he can do more.”
Gilbert said the term “countywide rodeo” meant it would pre-empt other rodeos but Rodriguez asked the assistant county attorney who said no, it does not.
Still, the chairman, for some reason, is hellbent on merging the events.
“I think the conversation needs to be on one rodeo, on one really big rodeo,” Gilbert said. “I’m assuming they all have horses and cowboys and boots and hats and I’m assuming buckles.”
He seemed to be ridiculing the event. At one point, he said his district doesn’t need a rodeo.
“We have Jazz in the Garden, we have Formula 1, we have world class tennis, we have the Miami Dolphins, we have Beyoncé, so we’re going to be alright.”
But he voted to move the item to the full commission.
Move to move Homestead Rodeo gets pushback on Miami-Dade commission added by Ladra on
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