A November ballot referendum seeks to redevelop the Rickenbacker Marina in Miami.
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ
adiaz@miamiherald.com
On the waterfront
As founder of Monty’s Raw Bar restaurants in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach, I’ve seen firsthand how public marinas can bring people together and create waterfront amenities for locals and visitors — regardless of whether they own a boat.
I’ve spent decades advocating for Biscayne Bay and Virginia Key. For a community so closely connected to the water, there are few places in Miami where the public can get close to the water’s edge and enjoy the beauty of Biscayne Bay. That is why I support Referendum 3 in the city of Miami, which would transform two aging marinas into a publicly accessible waterfront destination where families can dine, bike, kayak, walk along the bay and simply enjoy the water.
Having spent years on the Virginia Key Advisory Board, I know the challenges facing this island. Environmental contamination is rampant. Public access is limited. Parking is scarce. And the existing marinas have not seen meaningful improvements in decades. It’s time to invest in Virginia Key’s future.
The same team proposing $80 million in privately funded improvements on Virginia Key has operated the marinas that have housed Monty’s restaurants for years. I’ve seen their commitment to small businesses, the environment and local operators. With their support, Monty’s remains an affordable destination that everyone can celebrate.
Virginia Key is a Miami asset. Yet much of its waterfront remains closed off to the public, the existing marinas pose serious environmental risks and the businesses operating there generate limited financial returns to taxpayers.
I see an opportunity to revitalize this waterfront, open it up to the public, clean it up after years of environmental neglect, generate hundreds of new jobs and create a destination that makes Miami proud.
Vote “yes” on Referendum 3 in Miami.
Monty Trainer,
Miami
Support food banks
With the rising cost of rent, groceries and everyday expenses, many families are struggling to make ends meet. The foundation for strengthening families, improving mental health and building a stronger, healthier community lies in ensuring that every family has access to the resources needed to live and maintain stability.
Local organizations and food pantries in Miami-Dade County help families put food on the table. According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap report of 2023, about 406,810 people in our county face food insecurity, including 79,980 children, highlighting the need to continue supporting programs that help families access healthy, nutritious food.
No child should have to worry about whether there will be enough food at home. Without access to healthy meals, children’s ability to retain information, emotional well-being and overall health can be affected. Food insecurity also affects parents’ physical and mental health, creating stress at home that can leave a long-lasting impact on children.
I encourage local leaders, organizations and community members to continue supporting programs and policies, such as the Food and Nutrition For All initiative, that helps strengthen local food pantries and connect families to healthy food. Food insecurity affects all of us. Our community can unite to ensure that every family has access to healthy, nutritious food.
Quanice Mobley,
student,
master of social work,
Barry University,
Miami Shores
Garcia’s grit
I have become a fan of Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia for her authenticity, loyalty and consistency. She was present at the trial and sentencing of her former boss, David Rivera. Loyalty and support are especially important when people are down.
She also is honest and clear in her support of Amendment 3, a longtime policy issue for her. To take strong political positions that some may not support takes guts, but she has gained a new supporter.
Jorge Valdes,
North Miami
Replacing Rep. Salazar
We have had enough of U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. She voted for the so-called Big Beautiful Bill that funded ICE’s thugs. Instead of rounding up the “worst of the worst” for deportation, ICE has arrested people dropping off their children at school, or trying to find work to feed their families. We who live here know firsthand the contributions of our immigrant community. We likely interact with them daily.
Documented or undocumented immigrants are the backbone of Miami’s economy in tourism, agriculture, construction, landscaping, elder care and household services. Yes, we must reform our immigration system. But punishing people by sending them to Alligator Alcatraz, with its torture cages, or to countries in Africa or Central America, where they have no connection or way to earn a living, is cruel and unusual.
Salazar, along with her Republican colleagues, has been complicit in the cruelty. Her political ad calling out President Trump and his administration’s immigration enforcement excesses was too little, too late. Her newfound “courage” developed because she now has a more than worthy opponent.
Her complicity does not end with immigration. By allying herself with the corrupt Trump administration, she has supported the war in Iran that has cost us billions and resulted in death to our servicemen and women. It has also driven up the prices of oil, gas, groceries and consumer goods. Now that the U.S. is buying diesel fuel from Russia, she is complicit in supporting Vladimir Putin against Ukraine.
Salazar represents a diverse District 27. Its citizens have benefited from affordable healthcare, but thanks to her vote, that care will become unaffordable. Likewise, children and families have lost SNAP benefits.
Eliott Rodriguez, who, like Salazar, has Cuban parents, has served the community with integrity and professionalism as a television journalist and defender of the First Amendment. He knows the community well and has witnessed and reported on its evolution, its excesses and its strengths. He will help turn the page on this sorry chapter of our history.
Let’s stop the Trump administration’s madness and its minions. I ask my fellow District 27 citizens to vote for Eliott Rodriguez for Congress.
Katy Sorenson,
Miami
Future crimes
In 1981, Time magazine published a cover article, “South Florida: Trouble in Paradise,” largely about the era’s violent crime. Now, a New York City video game company seeks to undo 35 years of remarkable progress against crime by rebranding our town “Vice City.”
Our county sheriff strongly and bravely objects to this, as does the Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police. “Grand Theft Auto” video games are cop killing simulators.
After the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, then-Attorney General Janet Reno’s FBI identified in its “School Shooter Threat Assessment” the link between violent video games and school shootings. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz reportedly spent many hours daily playing very violent video games.
A county commissioner foolishly said of video games that, “Everybody knows it’s a game. We’re all adults here.” Wrong. The age ratings on these games are an admission of danger recklessly unenforced. Furthermore, the World Health Organization has officially classified “video gaming disorder” as a mental illness, an addiction, particularly dangerous to young teens.
The next mass school shooting may be authored by a “Grand Theft Auto” addict.
Jack Thompson,
Coral Gables
Scrambled taxes
Property taxes cover so many things. There has not been a clear evaluation of all the possible negative effects of cutting them. A partial answer to what will happen if it does is found, of all places, in the “Jumble” puzzle in the Oct. 14 Miami Herald.
The puzzle depicts a family of four trying to enter a public park, only to see an entry charge of $2 per person. When you solve the four-word clues and arrange the clue letters, you see the answer: “FEE-ASCO.”
We may save on property taxes, but will we have to pay for so many other things now covered by the tax. Vote “No.”
Alfred Sasiadek,
Lauderhill