King Defends Vote To Split Grove

Miami FL

31 March, 2022

4:51 PM

Description

By Joseph Hawk, Miami Times Staff Writer, the Miami Times Mar 29, 2022 At the end of last Thursday's Miami Commission meeting, Coconut Grove was no longer contained in one of the city's five districts. Instead, the historic heart of Miami was divided in three in the name of balancing population in those areas, with Commission Chair Christine King joining Commissioners Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Joe Carollo in the final vote lost by Commissioners Ken Russell and Manolo Reyes. The approved map brought everyone back full circle to an early proposal made by consultants in February, which was a far cry from where the proposed maps had evolved to coming into last week's meeting. At the previous session to discuss redistricting, Russell had devised a plan to keep the Grove, and especially the Black Grove, in District 2. In the interim, consultants Miguel De Grandy and Steve Cody had met with commissioners to gather what changes were desired and presented Russell's suggested map to the commission. Not only did the suggested changes meet the goals of keeping the Grove together, but it also kept the $185 million Riverside Wharf mixed-use project in King's District 5 and did a better job of lowering the deviation of population between the districts. When Russell made a motion to adopt that plan, which would also move parts of West Brickell out of his district to District 3, King seconded the motion. But then an unexpected debate brought on by Diaz de la Portilla and Carollo ensued about a feared white non-Hispanic population growth in that West Brickell area that they predicted would threaten a Hispanic commission seat. That conversation caused that map vote to fail 4-1. Amongst the no votes was King. When The Miami Times asked her in an interview why she seconded the motion only to ultimately vote against it, she said "I supported the plan that was the best for District 5." When asked if she was concerned about Black residents of the Grove being split up, she provided the exact same response. The district map adopted map of the city of Miami. (/Miguel A. De Grandy, Esq., Holland & Knight, and Stephen Cody, J.D.) The subsequent and final vote reverted to an early map proposed last month dividing Coconut Grove three ways that also kept a home Carollo owns (where he currently does not live) in his district. The resolution additionally included an amendment to keep Riverside Wharf in King's district, which she wanted as an economic driver and revenue generator for District 5. When this plan came to a vote, Commissioners Russell and Reyes voted against and Carollo and Diaz de la Portilla voted to approve, leaving King as the swing vote, which she cast in favor. King told The Miami Times she was "not at all surprised" to have been the deciding vote. In the end, the gallery full of Coconut Grove residents lobbying to be kept together in District 2 failed to get their wish. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.