It looks like the mobilization of Key Biscayne residents against the redevelopment and privatization of Rickenbacker Causeway has found some success: Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who had defended the RFP as a way to fund long-needed bridge improvements, sent a memo to the mayor asking for some changes and more time.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who has been the chief cheerleader for Plan Z — named after architect Bernard Zyscovich, who has been designing this makeover for about a decade — reportedly indicated she was okay with some changes.
And now there’s a sunshine meeting — commissioners can’t meet privately, so its out in the public “sunshine” — at 3 p.m. Wednesday so the mayor can hear from the other commissioners (read: count votes) and other interested parties and stakeholders. Wait, isn’t there still a cone of silence?
Rachel Johnson, Levine Cava’s spokeswoman, said La Alcaldesa has “been working to include as much feedback as she can.”
But this might be an effort to pre-empt a vote from the Key Biscayne Village Council against the current RFP.
Know more: Key Biscayne crowd heckles Raquel Regalado on shady Rickenbacker RFP
While the village had declined to vote against the RFP at their last meeting, it was after Regalado — attending remotely — practically begged for an opportunity to have the town hall that pretty much backfired on her. They gave her a chance. And Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey has scheduled another special Village Council meeting for Thursday to revisit the item.
See? Levine Cava isn’t going to give up too easily on a big part of her legacy.
“This will be my biggest infrastructure project,” La Alcaldesa was quoted as saying in the Key Biscayne Independent. “It’s critically important that we get it right.
“This is a huge County asset. It’s not just a roadway.”
To some people in Key Biscayne, it’s not a roadway. It’s a driveway, the only way in and out of their homes.
Regalado’s memo Friday came less than 48 hours after a town hall at the Key Biscayne Community Center last week where she and county staffers — including Parks Director Maria Nardi and Miami-Dade’s #2 Jimmy Morales — were heckled and booed by residents who overwhelmingly dislike the proposal. Dislike is a nice word. Signs with the ghostbuster’s circle around the words Plan Z have been popping up at island businesses.
“As County Commissioner of District 7, which includes the Rickenbacker Causeway, I have engaged deeply over the past several months with residents in Key Biscayne and other stakeholders who have expressed apprehension with elements of the Rickenbacker Bridge RFP,” Regalado wrote in the memo, which also went to all commissioners.
Know more: Miami Beach dodges causeway Plan Z for privatization, but not Key Biscayne
“Some of the concerns stem from a lack of clarity as to the primary focus of the RFP, whether it be road and bridge maintenance, traffic flow, bicycle and pedestrian safety or park and open space amenities. There are also significant questions regarding the financial structure, impact on future tolls, and public oversight,” Regalado said.
“While I believe that these questions can be answered through a full and transparent process that may or may not produce a project that resembles the concepts expressed in the RFP, I also believe that some immediate changes to the process may help to alleviate some of the concerns,” she said, adding that she wants to extend the deadline from Dec. 15 to March.
The county commission will revise the RFP at the Oct. 5 meeting to remove the Venetian Causeway from the scope of work. Commissioner Sally Heyman and Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber led that effort.
Regalado also wants the demolition of the existing fishing pier and construction of a new one “with adjacent concessions” on the Rickenbacker to be entirely removed from the RFP and the words “iconic, state of the art” be deleted in the part about the observation deck.
“These changes will reduce the focus of the RFP on entertainment amenities and more properly focus the potential project on the transportation and safety elements,” she wrote.
That’s not enough, say opponents who believe the whole RFP should be thrown out and that the process should be started over — without the design and recreational specifics that are basically a mirror image of the unsolicited Plan Z proposal.
Know more: Rickenbacker RFP looks like a done deal set-up for no-bid Plan Z proposal
Mayor Davie says he’d rather see the whole thing start from scratch. He has said that there is just too much distrust and lack of confidence in the project and the process. Many stakeholders are suspicious about the involvement of Jack Kardys, the former Parks Director, in an RFP that is going to be administered by the county parks department instead of procurement.
“I appreciate Commissioner Regalado listening to her constituents,” said Fausto Gomez, president of the Key Biscayne Condominium President’s Council and one of the loudest voices against the proposal. “But Key Biscayne – and indeed all the people of Miami-Dade – deserve a transparent and inclusive process leading to a public solution.
“We should expect no less from our government,” Gomez told Ladra. “The Rickenbacker is the only driveway to our homes on Key Biscayne and a crucial transportation link for all of Greater Miami to enjoy the beaches, parks, and marinas.”
Regalado understands that and noted it in her memo.
“While the causeways and bridges are a countywide asset for the benefit of all residents and visitors to our state, county and city parks, the Rickenbacker is also the only road in or out of Key Biscayne, home to 14,890 residents. Therefore, extra engagement and consideration should be given to their existential needs, balanced with the safety and access concerns of other users of the roadway,” she wrote.
She asked the mayor to create an “independent working group comprised of all key stakeholders to address questions and provide informed feedback to County staff and residents all the way through this process. And that their meetings be held in the Sunshine so that all interested parties may learn together and create a truly collaborative end result.
“Such a group would give residents comfort that a maximum effort is being made to consider them on a project that would potentially impact their daily lives for years to come,” she said.
Regalado also says it is an opportunity to consider changes to the unsolicited proposal ordinance that produced the RFP. This is the first test of the ordinance, which was brought to the commission by Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz. For some reason, the timeline on an RFP that is triggered by an unsolicited proposal has a quicker deadline than typical.
Shouldn’t it be a longer window?
Well, everyone can see what the commissioners who care to show up at Wednesday’s sunshine meeting think. The virtual meeting can be accessed via Zoom at https://miamidade.zoom.us/j/83955386037?pwd=VU1pcmNBdjV0eTQ4RDdGaUxITk9HZz09 or by telephone live at 786-635-1003, webinar ID 839 5538 6037 (press pound when prompted for the meeting password).
More changes, chat coming on flawed, rushed Rickenbacker Causeway RFP added by Ladra on
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