City of Margate {Google Maps}
By Rich Zucchini
It is extremely sad to listen and read of those elected, their spouse, and commission candidates using personal insults amongst fellow commissioners. Especially those professing their love for the city. This only degrades the city and creates a questionable barrier for those interested in developing in the city.
Sitting commissioners and candidates should be debating city issues, not insults. Spouses should be seen and not heard as they were not elected; use your insults at home. The height of hypocrisy of those elected, their spouse, and candidates who are just as guilty is staggering.
Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. The previous CRA board that selected and contracted with a developer was not experienced nor equipped to do so. And yes, CRA/commissioner Ruzzano initially voted in favor of New Urban. Unfortunately, the contract did not embed protections/contingencies in the contract, like ultimate veto power over the design and deadlines for progress. The previous CRA board did not include those (Commissioner Ruzzano did not vote to include those). By the time New Urban submitted its horrible design, it became clear that the city had very little to gain. It was a land giveaway with little to no city-center amenities.
To develop a consensus of vision, the CRA chair should have held workshop meetings inviting those with actual experience in major developments, NOT being a lone wolf, but rather bringing his board exposure to more experiences.
Why not invite some from recent large developments (CS?) to discuss the pitfalls, Invite other non-participating developers, and ask questions such as deed restrictions, rental policies, condo vs. apartment rentals (build condos, making those available for rent until condo market reaches better marketability, discuss mix of townhouse/condo/apartments. Discuss phasing in percentage leases for commercial units to work with long-term valuable tenants sharing the benefit of better locations/draws….(percentage lease includes base rent and a percentage share of increased revenues). The CRA chair should hold workshop meetings to discuss visions of the city center development TOGETHER and not insult and demean fellow board members. In other words, LEAVE YOUR EGO AT HOME FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE CITY!
The whining about CRA positions/titles is ridiculous! In 2016, then commissioner/CRA board member Ruzzano strongly argued for rotating Chair and vice chair positions, even arguing in favor of 1-year term limits. I will spare the embarrassment of the actual voice links unadulterated by ChatGPT.
Regarding candidates, we need diversity of thought and vision, not puppets that look to one person to find out what they should think. Leave the idol worshipping at home.
The CRA should avoid yielding to developer interests over what residents have been waiting for. How many board members have studied the Margate 2.0 surveys or even read them? I have! Development Services should have done more to publish them and even apply statistics from the results; can anyone even spell standard deviation? The sample size was adequate for that!
There was strong support for a food hall/ meeting place, although that seems to have been lost lately. Developers focused simply on revenue will argue that such an amenity does not return the same revenue as apartments. Resident’s expectations should be placed above the developer’s revenue interests, even in a cooperative public-private development (City/Developer). Commissioner Ruzzano reminded me of my involvement in a No968apts campaign; however, don’t misunderstand that it was NOT simply based on numbers but based on what the benefit to the city residents would experience. The commercial units were a joke, with parking shared between commercial and residential, illustrating it was an afterthought and NOT a City Center design. That contract was a clear gift giveaway to the developer.
STOP THE MANIPULATIVE DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR!!!! TOGETHER WE MAKE IT GREAT !!!!
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