Miami commissioners are delaying any decisions on who should be in charge of major downtown public parks near Biscayne Bay.
Bayfront and Maurice Ferre parks are currently run by the Bayfront Park Management Trust. The trust is made up of political appointees, with one city commissioner, Joe Carollo, serving as its chairperson 鈥� despite the parks not being in his district.
Now the city commissioner for downtown Miami, Damian Pardo, wants to restructure the trust so the City Commission acts as its board members, and his district gets more seats.
At a public meeting last week, he said he wants to give downtowners more representation in the parks 鈥� and the idea caused some arguments on the dais.
鈥淭he residents want more participation, they want more transparency and they want more accountability. The residents don鈥檛 trust Commissioner Carollo,鈥� Pardo said.
Carollo opposed the plan and hit back at Pardo鈥檚 comments. He was joined by Commissioner Miguel Gabela and Commission Chairwoman Christine King, who said the dispute should be handled when the city appoints new board members at the beginning of the year.
Commissioner Manolo Reyes supported Pardo鈥檚 plan to put the trust under the commission鈥檚 control, arguing that the two parks are regional parks 鈥� not just for downtowners 鈥� and therefore deserve representation from the entire city.
The city of Miami will take up the Bayfront Park restructuring discussion in January.
READ MORE: City of Miami to create new 'innovation' office, discuss $3.5 billion budget
This is a News In Brief report. Visit 港澳天下彩News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.
