Protecting Morningside Park

I am quite alarmed by the proposals to be presented for Morningside Park.

I am personally disgusted to hear that these Morningside Park proposals have been planned with no transparency – and a refusal to be transparent – when numerous city officials have been asked “Who is the author of these proposals?”

And it is quite unfortunate that Morningside Park is in District 2 under the dismal leadership of Commissioner Ken Russell.

Russell has no problem destroying trees, eliminating playing fields and picnic areas, and pouring hundreds of gallons of cement on green space in the name of progress.

He did an excellent job of that a few years ago when Pallot Park in the Upper Eastside was destroyed.

Numerous requests for public meetings so the community could review the plans for Pallot Park were ignored. The entirety of its open green space and picnic area, where families came on the weekend to play soccer and have family meals outdoors, was eliminated. Trees growing in the park for more than 50 years were decimated. Hundreds of gallons of cement were poured all over the park, turning it into a cement pavilion.

Now Russell has set his sights on Morningside Park.

Over the past few years there have been numerous public meetings and workshops for Morningside Park that were well attended. A strong majority of residents wants the design of the park to remain the same, with specific upgrades and improvements.

I attended all of those public meetings. I never heard anyone ask for trees to be destroyed, the loop road to be removed, parking and picnic areas to be eliminated, or the view of the bay to be blocked in any way.

But Russell has his own agenda and doesn't give a damn what his community wants.

If the Morningside pool was located in Coconut Grove it would have been repaired immediately. Instead, the Upper Eastside community has had 6 years of stall and delay tactics from Russell, the city manager’s office, and the department that handles capital improvements.

It’s time for City of Miami leadership to start serving the Upper Eastside community and move forward with the improvements we requested – not your own personal agendas.