It was a spirited, no holds meeting where, for the first time a lot of folks had an opportunity to speak directly to the developers.  I personally am not sure anything of substance changed, because the ordinances that allow this project to move forward has already received a first vote, and historically, trying to make changes to complex documents in the middle of a commission meeting don't get far.

The problem of communities like Little Haiti organizing to combat the kinds of changes that this project will bring have always been difficult in Miami, and while a lot of folks recognize that this is a - if not THE -biggest problem that they face, I'm not sure that given the time left, and the complicated issues that need to be sorted out, that anything can be accomplished.

The only thing that I can see that might be possible, and absolutely one thing that would make a difference would be to wrest the ability away from Commissioner Keon Hardemon to appoint the majority of the members of the Little Haiti Revitalization Board.

He, nor any single city commissioner should ever again be allowed to hand-pick the membership of any of these community boards.

Hardemon had demonstrated that he can not be trusted, and given that he plans on running for the County Commission seat currently held by Audrey Edmonson next year, is reason enough not to allow him to appoint more than 1 person to that board.

The big problem however, is that this kind of prerogative to appoint their political cronies and sock puppets to these kinds of boards is what all of the slugs on the city commission believe is part of their right as commissioners so as to keep and maintain their grip on their communities, which in turn allows them to depend on these people at reelection time.

It's a fight worth fighting, but it's up to the community to rise up and fight the fight if they want to have some control over what happens to them in the future.