CIP VIPs
A list to nominate members for Miami's new Civilian Investigative Panel comes together in typical Magic City fashion
And while we're on the subject, who has the right to keep Coconut Grove music-biz entrepreneur Pan Courtelis or former Pan American Airways president Martin Shugrue from receiving CIP application forms so that they can fill them out from heaven? (Courtelis departed this world last June; Shugrue died at his Houston home in 1999.) If dead people can vote -- as they did in the 1997 mayoral race -- why can't they investigate police misconduct?
Who is to say? The CIP Nominating Committee, that's who. For starters, the CIP ordinance bars anyone with a felony record from serving on the panel. "This list is defective," nominating committee member Paul Phillip pronounced at the May 21 meeting, looking annoyed. Detecting a potential public relations nightmare, the chief of staff for the superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools (and ex-FBI agent) proposed advertising CIP positions just as the city advertises any opening. That is, via several local print media outlets. Criminal trial lawyer Jack Blumenfeld, another committee member, also had qualms even if the city officials had vetted the list of the dead, the felonious, the out-of-towners, and the trappings of quasi-literacy. "I think it's impossible to do a list that's not going to be arbitrary," he surmised. No one openly disagreed. Out went the list. The CIP Nominating Committee had dodged the bullets of bias and cronyism, as well as a dire need for an editor. (The nominating committee will meet again July 9 to decide what questions they will ask when they interview applicants.)
To be sure, many of the chosen ones are probably upstanding citizens who would investigate cop cases diligently and apply the CIP's subpoena power wisely. But even this alternative weekly noticed that a full one fourth of the addresses for the city's prospective candidates were outside the City of Miami. Mysteriously, dozens were listed as Miami addresses even though they fell far outside the city's boundaries. While only a couple have left this world, a variety of others departed long ago from the addresses city staffers still think they're at. (For example, the list includes Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp. director Anna Ward, but she was fired from that position in 1996.)
Although the list of 420 is now officially moot in the CIP process, it is sure to retain currency in other spheres of city government. The city clerk's office has it readied for firing onto address labels. So, if you're not on this A-list and want to be, you need to get busy. You're either not plugged in with city staff, not loud enough, or both. The raw, unadulterated document follows; spellings are city staff's.
Prospective CIP Nominees, as prepared by the City of Miami's Office of Professional Compliance
Natoma Manors Homeowners Assoc.
Tony Asbury, President
P.O. Box 331757
Miami, Florida 33133
Wynwood Homeowners Assoc.
263 NW 34th Street
Miami, Florida
Edgewater Economic Development
2697 Biscayne Blvd
Miami, Florida 33137
Tigertail Homeowners Assoc.
Kitty Terr, President
1896 Tigertail Avenue
Miami, Florida 33133
Chairman of Empowerment Zone Agency
3601 Federal Hwy
Miami, Fl 33137
440 NE 34th Street
Miami, Florida 33137
Cliff Hammock Homeowners Assoc.
Alana L. Grajewskik President
2838 Brickell Avenue
Miami, Florida 33133
Father Menendez
3220 NW 7th Avenue
Miami, Florida
2902 NW 2nd Avenue
Miami, Florida
Coconut Grove Civic Club
Frank Balzebre, President
3925 Park Drive
Miami, Florida 33133
Citizens Advisory Board
2902 NW 2nd Ave
Miami, Florida
301 NW 36th Street
Miami, Florida 33127
Wynwood Homeowners Assoc.
400 NW 34th Street
Miami, Florida
2601 NW 24th Street
Miami, Florida
Wynwood Homeowners Assoc.
Nick Alvarez
3505 NW 5th Avenue
Miami, Florida
Michael Spetko, chairman
600 Brickell Avenue
Suite 603
Miami, Florida 33131
Wynwood Homeowners Assoc.
507 NW 35th Street
Miami, Florida
Wynwood Homeowners Assoc.
Luis Perdono
153 NW 31st Street
Miami, Florida
Abitari Homeowners Assoc.
Barbara Lange, President
3495 Main Highway
Miami, Florida 33133
Rafael Hernandez Housing Economic Dev.
Henry Mojica, Exec. Director
2902 NW 2nd Ave
Miami, Florida
1180 NE 86th Street
Miami, Florida
Bay Heights Homeowners Assoc.
Murray Marcus, President
29 Shore Drive West
Miami, Florida 33133
AIA Employment of Miami
Veldrin Freemon
3050 Biscayne Blvd, #101
Miami, Florida
Victor Ballesta
500 NW 24th Street
Miami, Florida
Center Grove Neighborhood Assoc.
Marc Sarnoff, President
3197 Virginia Street
Miami, Florida 33133
Downtown Development Authority
200 S. Biscayne Boulevard #1818
Miami, Florida 33131
Downtown Miami Partnership
Jeff Sherman, Chairman
25 SE 2nd Avenue #1007
Miami, Florida 33131
3090 ALAMANDA ST
Miami, Florida 33133
Brian Gale, President
600 Brickell Avenue, Ste. 800
Miami, Florida 33131
Brickell Homeowners Association
T. Sinclair (Tory) Jacob, President
145 SE 25 Road #1002
Miami, Florida 33129
2831 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
777 Brickell Ave., Ste. 1200
Miami, Florida 33131sd
Miami-Dade Community College
300 NE 2nd Avenue
Miami, Florida 33132
2701 S. Bayshore Drive
Miami, Florida 33133
Dade Herittage Trust (SIC)
190 SE 12th Terrace
Miami, Florida 33131
Taylor Development & Land Co.
Mr. Harvey S. Taylor
12000 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, Florida
Wimbish-Riteway Realtor
3903 Alton Road
Miami Beach, Florida
MIA- P.O. Box 997880
Miami, Florida 33299-7990
J. Milton & Associates
Mr. Joseph Milton
3211 Ponce de Leon Blvd Ste. 301
