The UEL dinner May 19th has openings, sign up today! Call us at 786-472-0011 or email us at UELinfo@bellsouth.net. We have most of the candidates coming, it should be informative. Katy Sorenson’s County Commission seat leaves big shoes to fill… here’s hoping that we will identify that candidate on Wednesday!

County Commissioner Katy SorensonThis dinner is for you!Orchid and Onions Award DinnerThe Urban Environment League is hosting our Annual Award Dinner/Annual Meetingin honor of:County Commissioner Katy SorensonMasters of Ceremony:Jim DeFede and UEL President Fran BohnsackCommissioner Sorenson will be leaving office this Fall to pursue a new and exciting chapter in her life. Those of us who want to thank her will “Roast” with an Onion or “Toast” with an Orchid.Please join us in saying goodbye to ‘Katy’: Wednesday – June 16th6pm Cocktails (Cash Bar) & 7pm DinnerAt the Rusty Pelican Restaurant3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne 3 Course Dinner $50Your Payment is your reservation. No payment at the door!Check/Paypal by June 11th – Space Limited Indicate whether you want to speak at the event.Use Paypal at: button on right side of page orSend a check (made out to UEL) to:Urban Environment League – Suite 1141000 N.W. North River DriveMiami, FL 33136Questions? uelinfo@bellsouth.net – Phone: 786-472-0011Ask about being featured in our keepsake program!Include your email or phone number for reservation confirmation.

The Urban Environment League invites you to a Dinner Program:
Miami Dade County Commission
District 8 Candidate’s Forum
Invited Candidates Include: Lynda Bell, Jason Culler,
Eugene Flinn,  Pamela Gray,
Albert Harum Alvarez, Obdulio Piedra,  Annette Taddeo
Moderator: Dr. Barbara Falsey

This is  an important District Election. Commissioner Katy Sorenson has always balanced serving her district  and serving the entire County. She was able to think long term and regionally. It is critical to all of us to get the right person in this seat. We urge you to come meet the candidates and hear them speak on issues important to all.

Wednesday, May 19th
at the Rusty Pelican on Virginia Key
$25 – 3 Course Dinner (tax & tip included)
$20 For Students – 7:30 Program Only FREE!

• 6 pm
Cocktail Meet-Up
With Cash Bar
• 6:30 pm
3 Course Dinner
• 7:30 Program free*

Use Paypal at: www. uel. org or
www.urbanenvironmentleague.blogspot.com or
Bring a check (made out to UEL) or cash (no credit card at the door)
RSVP a must ASAP**: uelinfo@bellsouth.net – Phone: 786-472-0011

*Please wait for program to begin before entering banquet room
**We have an 18 hour cancellation policy on dinners.

This is a follow-up to our May 6th article on LED Billboards proposed for the Arsht Center Area.Towers of Babel: visual pollution in the downtownBy DANIEL ROTH SHOER (Google Translation of article written in Spanish)Be careful, monsters coming to devour electronic urban aesthetics of Miami.They come dressed as cherubs and promise paradise. But if we open the doors to bring their families and our identity – and security – jeopardized.Monsters are two giant electronic billboards and bright advertising more than 20 stories high on a seven-story garage adjacent to the Arsht Center in downtown Miami, which not only dull the majestic architecture of the theaters, but also become to the city in a bad copy of Las Vegas.What Happens in Vegas better stay there.The towers have been presented with a tempting incentive: a large covered parking for those attending the theater that now must pay $ 20 valet parking”or “ $ 10 and $ 15 outdoor parking spaces nearby.By the way, luckily this cultural institution, built with public funds was made to enjoy ALL the Miami culture. Yes, the poor too, who at these exorbitant prices Metromover have to come in and sit so high in the audience that the dancers look like ants. But that is another matter.Mayor Tomas Regalado wrote a letter in January in favor of this project developer Mark Siffin. If he is wise, will change his mind. Otherwise it is placed at the side of the lobbyists and power groups.Here are some reasons to consider.In principle, the City of Miami has no power to pass whatever the colossal structures in 1985 and Miami-Dade County established an ordinance known as the Code of Miami-Dade Banners, whose regulations must also be respected by municipal governments.The ordinance specifies that fences are not permitted on the roofs of the buildings by the hazard if it were to lash a powerful hurricane. In addition, to install an automatic electronic fence, the property must have at least 10 acres of land. The content of advertisements must be limited to services and products offered in the building, and believe that these towers are not going to announce “ park”to be seen from miles away.Moreover, it is prohibited for messages on and off intermittently, and expand from a central point to the rest of the screen, which should be up to 750 square feet and 20 stories tall.The codes were updated in 1994 and 2000, to cope with a flood of illegal ads began to pollute the urban landscape. Municipal governments like Miami a pact alliances with billboard companies, which produce millions of dollars in ads.These provisions were designed by leaders accountable and aware that excessive installation of fences along roads, as well as murals on buildings, destroyed the distinctive character of a community appearance.There is full evidence that confirms that the digital billboards, especially those that seem huge announcement televisions and change every six seconds, represent an unnecessary risk to drivers. Therefore, in various parts of the country, local governments have chosen to protect public safety by banning or restriction of these banners.Siffin argues that his project will benefit the City because they generate more revenue, and the Arsht Center by attracting an audience that does not attend because you can not find parking spots. The glow of the towers also serve to illuminate the neighborhood preventing crime (where is the police?) And promote a cosmopolitan flavor to the area, with the exception of the theaters and residential towers, is not pleasant for pedestrians.However, the towers digitized clash aesthetically with the historic and architectural elements at great distances, and will become the dominant visual element should be the Arsht Can not say that this was the Miami equivalent of the Sydney Opera House?I do not object to build a multilevel parking, because that should be included when the theaters were designed. What I find incongruous is the mega advertising structures since it does not harmonize with the rest of the city. Even in South Beach, which is our tourist Mecca, are permitted.It is very easy to want to be what is not. The downtown Miami is not – nor wants to be – the strip of Las Vegas or Times Square. Give green light to the construction of the towers of advertising to invite other developers want to do the same. So many lights shine, we only lack the light itself.

Columnist Jackie Bueno Sousa said in the Miami Herald that the Jackson Health System Board should not be politicized. She takes issue with putting, for example, union representatives on the board:Putting labor in the boardroom only worsens the accountability problem and muddies the issue of financial responsibility.She instead recommends that the Board be “an independent body distanced from the power plays of special interests, including county officials…”The Urban Environment League has a seat on the Independent Transportation Trust nominating committee and we have found that it is a struggle to get qualified people on the Trust because the Commissioners have the final say on who is appointed. The nominating committee narrows down the choice from a field of candidates for the Commissioners but the Commissioner can reject the candidates submitted by the committee.