Editorial

Parks to Remain Parks

And everyone wins.

Miami-Dade Commissioner and downtown resident Eileen Higgins did a personal and impassioned defense of downtown parks and spoke on behalf of former Mayor Maurice Ferre. Photo, Niels Johansen.

On March 28, the City of Miami Commission voted unanimously against an ordinance to allow “Amusement Rides” in downtown parks. The commissioners further instructed the city administration that if they’d like to pursue a zoning change for such amusement rides, it will have to be done without involving any city parks.

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But why? A downtown resident questioned the reason she had to take off a day from work to be there defending what elected representatives should have out-right dismissed the moment the ordinance was presented. She condensed her feeling in one word: disappointment.

DNA President, Amal Solh Kabbani, addressing the Commissioners from a legalistic and political stance. Photo, Niels Johansen.

Other residents spoke about the need to preserve the last windows left in downtown to Biscayne Bay. Others showed their outrage at the thought of having a highrise right between the AA Arena and Maurice Ferre Park (though that is a different issue.) Others expressed their dismay at the possibility of turning Bayfront Park, downtown’s green space, into a Miami Coney Island.

The tedious and essential ways of democracy. Photo, Niels Johansen.

In the end, reason prevailed thanks to all the people who spent countless hours organizing and executing the relentless defense of downtown Parks. Paraphrasing Martin Luther King: Citizens’ rights are never given voluntarily; they must be demanded.