Miami’s messy politics slowed down city business. This downtown agency is fed up
One of the city of Miami’s largest tax-funded agencies has a vacant leadership position, and board members are so tired of waiting for bickering city commissioners to approve the board’s unanimous pick that they hired a high-powered attorney to represent them as they press forward with a new executive director.
In reaction to the abrupt end to a public meeting where commissioners quarreled instead of doing the work of the city, the Downtown Development Authority’s board of directors voted to use an independent counsel to review the board’s power to name the agency’s executive director.
Members said they were frustrated with the inaction at the commission level, and they do not want to see the directorship become a political appointment subject to jockeying among elected officials.
“I think what we are trying to say here is that we are business people doing the business of this organization, and we will not be politicized,” said Gary Ressler, board member and principal of Tilia Companies. “We’ve made a decision, and we’re moving forward.”
The Downtown Development Authority is a semi-autonomous agency with a $12 million budget fueled by taxes levied on 3.8 square miles in Miami’s downtown east of I-95, west of Biscayne Bay, south of I-195 and north of the Rickenbacker Causeway. The agency is responsible for promotion and economic development in downtown Miami for tourists, investors and a growing residential population.
The agency runs an employment program for the homeless, provides grants for property improvements and pays for beautification projects. A 15-member board made up of downtown property owners and business proprietors governs the agency.
Board members on Tuesday also agreed to hire their choice for director, former Miami Beach commissioner John Elizabeth Alemán, as the “acting” director. The designation allows the board to unilaterally hire her until the status of her position is resolved, according to the city attorney’s office.
Such a resolution might come in a legal standoff. The downtown agency is retaining attorney Eugene Stearns, a veteran litigator who’s squared off with City Hall before, as its pro-bono lawyer. Stearns is expected to provide an opinion to the downtown agency on how to proceed. At issue: two sections of the city code that might contradict each other on whether the agency’s board has the unilateral authority to hire its own executive director and set the director’s salary.
Stearns recently represented a private developer of Flagstone Island Gardens, a long-delayed hotel resort project on city-owned Watson Island. Years of litigation between Flagstone and the city resulted in a settlement that will cost taxpayers $20 million over the next decade.
The agency’s board members made their position clear Tuesday morning: They believe Alemán should lead the Downtown Development Authority, and they don’t want politics to get in the way. Another issue in the fray: Commissioners might fight over who is the chairman of the agency — currently Commissioner Ken Russell, whose district includes downtown. Several agency board members emphasized that regardless of who is chairman, they have made their choice for their director.
“Because we know that there is a very contentious and toxic political environment at the City Commission level, this is not about the chairmanship of the DDA,” said Neisen Kasdin, a land use attorney and managing partner at Akerman’s Miami office.
Alyce Robertson, longtime director of the development authority, retired Dec. 31, though under terms of an agreement she negotiated with the board, she will receive a full year’s salary and medical benefits in her first year of retirement. Robertson will also serve as a consultant on standby for whoever is the next director.
The agency’s board has unanimously endorsed Alemán, who recently completed one term as a city commissioner in Miami Beach, her first political foray. Alemán’s worked for 14 years at Ryder System where she rose to become the logistics company’s international director for information technology. She also worked as chief information officer at infrastructure firm MasTec.
After the board approved Alemán’s appointment in November, the City Commission deferred her final approval in December. The approval was again pushed back when Thursday’s commission meeting fell apart amid squabbling.
After she was approved as acting director, Alemán told the Miami Herald she was already setting up calls and meetings.
“I’m excited to actually get to work,” she said.
Under terms approved by the board, Alemán will be paid $198,000 a year, with an annual 17.5% bonus every July 31.
Toward the end of the meeting, some members said they simply believed the agency needs to move beyond any obstacles created by political infighting. Others reiterated their dissatisfaction with the commission’s behavior last week.
“This has been the most depressing example of behavior at a city commission that I could have ever imagined,” said Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, a board member and managing partner at Cervera Real Estate. “It was shocking to me, the hissy fit that was had by these commissioners.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 7:53 PM.
