Dear Editor,

In his June editorial, Gazette publisher Tom Curtis wrote the following; “I have neither the time nor the desire to dig into this subject or I might miss my deadline.” Deadline aside, Mr. Curtis’ lack of desire to fully investigate our community issues leaves a lot to be desired. He was opining about my “scathing” letter criticizing City Manager William Alonso and City Planner Chris Heid for their failure to impose a potential million-dollar parking fee on the developers of 1 Curtis Parkway. The subject has been extensively documented on MiamiSprings.com. 

Did the City Lose over $1 Million In Unclaimed Parking Fees
Did the City Lose over $1 Million In Unclaimed Parking Fees

Mr. Curtis also left out important details about my ethics complaint against Mr. Alonso to the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics & Public Trust. I also filed the same complaint against City Planner Heid, and former City Attorney Dan Espino. My complaint was filed under the Miami-Dade County Citizens’ Bill of Rights Truth in Government provision and was based on their failure to correct the record when a board member erroneously stated that the new development would provide shared parking for the public. The Ethics Commission dismissed all complaints by stating; “Therefore, because the Miami-Dade Citizens’ Bill of Rights does not create or impose any duty to correct erroneous information, the Complaint does not sufficiently allege a violation of that legal provision.” 

At the Ethics Commission hearing I stated it’s time to incorporate such a legal provision. Shouldn’t we expect and demand that government officials correct and clarify wrong information? Mr. Alonso wasn’t at the board meeting, but as City Manager/Finance Director shouldn’t he be ultimately responsible for establishing truth and facts? Not according to the Ethics Commission which stated; “The Miami-Dade Citizens’ Bill of Rights does not create or impose any duty to correct others or to be responsible for the false statements and knowingly omitted significant facts provided by others under one’s supervision.” Sadly, the Ethics Commission’s “Truth in Government Provision” has major loopholes that severely undermine the establishment of truth and public trust.

The City of Miami Springs provides advertisement revenue to the Gazette, possibly a mutually beneficial arrangement. The city gets reasonable advertising rates and our beloved and appreciated Gazette gets some needed revenue as it struggles like all printed news outlets. But this establishes a sticky and conflicted relationship.

Mr. Curtis often criticizes residents for their lack of involvement in city affairs. But when a resident criticizes or publicly disagrees with city management, he sometimes insultingly refers to them as naysayers, complainers, etc. Some say Mr. Curtis is a cheerleader for city management while trying to deflect and disparage resident criticisms. For instance, MS.com publisher Nestor Suarez spoke intelligently and civilly at a recent public forum about the critical failure to collect parking fees and Mr. Curtis dismissively called it a “rant.” To his credit, Mr. Curtis has never failed to publish any of my critical letters. 

Some years back, a previous mayor/councilman used his elected position as a bully pulpit to criticize the Gazette for what he perceived as negative coverage. He referenced the City providing revenue to the Gazette, clearly linking and alluding to why should they continue to provide the Gazette revenue if it printed negative coverage of the city.  

I’ve heard that Mr. Curtis received a phone call from City Hall after my recent “scathing” Gazette letter. Do city officials have a pattern of “reminding” Mr. Curtis about the revenue and that critical coverage of city issues and management is not welcome? A sneaky attack on the Free Press? Is that why Mr. Curtis has “no desire to dig?” For the sake of credibility, independence, and basic journalistic standards we strongly urge Mr. Curtis to commit to doing comprehensive investigative reporting, regardless of how it reflects on City Hall. The residents deserve nothing less.

Jim Llewellyn
Miami Springs 


Submit letters to the editor via email to:  edtor@miamisprings.com

5 COMMENTS

  1. That there Jim Llewellyn feller is a neighsayer fer sure, he been neighing hi and low all over Miami Spreeng fer years, time to put that horsey out to pasture

  2. “MiamiSprings.com has reported on the parking scandal from the beginning.” OK, then why ask the Gazette to do “investigative”? Word of advice, trying to make yourself look good by making someone else look bad is bad business Nestor Suarez. If you are such a good news source stick with good content and avoid attacking longtime community newspaper we have loved for decades. Otherwise you also are being used as bully pulpit and a puppet of Jim L. (If you disagreed with Jim L. he would turn on you in a flash).

    • Edward,

      Thanks for the feedback and for visiting MiamiSprings.com.

      As for the Gazette, I enjoyed it for many years.

      As for this Letter to the Editor, we publish Letters to the Editor (including this one from Jim Llewellyn) all the time. In fact, my understanding was that this letter ran in the Gazette, too. So it’s not something exclusive.

      I can’t speak for Jim and his opinions.

      However, in my commentary below I simply point out some of the many resources available on MiamiSprings.com. Included in that is the interactive feedback residents leave in their commentary.

      Again, I appreciate your feedback.

  3. If this ms website is the “number one source of news” then maybe jim l. and nestor s. can team up and do “investigative” reporting. if you all did such a stellar job as you say then why do you need the gazette to jump in.

    jim l. is back on his hey look at me campaign when so very few could care less. yeah jim your “scathing” letter really shook the town. moron. you are doing just what got you blacklisted on miami beach and no one here takes you seriously.

    as for “comprehensive investigative” reporting, yeah sure, the gazette is the newspaper for that. surprise u jim and lets see you do some reporting – with facts please, not inuendo or playing the victim. thank you. laura sepler

    • MiamiSprings.com has reported on the parking scandal from the beginning.

      https://new.miamisprings.com/administration-needs-to-be-held-accountable/

      Here’s a link to dozens of stories related to parking in Miami Springs:

      https://new.miamisprings.com/?s=parking

      Fortunately, we have an easy to access archive of stories to allow residents to look back at past stories going back several years.

      For example, here’s a link to stories that have covered the Gateway Overlay District:

      https://new.miamisprings.com/?s=gateway+overlay+district

      As you can see, we have the most extensive archive of local news readily accessible to residents, 24/7 from any digital device. But it’s not just the content, archives, and number of stories. It’s the number of Miami Springs visitors who come to the website every week. More residents get their local news from MiamiSprings.com than any other news source. In fact, our monthly users actually surpasses the number of residents who live in Miami Springs as business owners, past residents, and parties interested in Miami Springs also visit the MiamiSprings.com website.

      I also want to thank you for visiting the website and sharing your feedback. The interactive nature of our digital platform with our residents also sets us apart.

      FYI – Look out for the new MiamiSprins.com Magazine hitting mailboxes this month.

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