Dear Residents of Coconut Grove,
On July 21st, 2017 an article by Andres Viglucci titled, “Tree Devouring ‘white boxes’ invade lush Coconut Grove, and the locals revolt” was published. This article was based off of the opinions of local community groups. Amongst the contributors to this article was our commissioner for District 2 Ken Russell, David Villano (Grove 2030), Javier Gonzalez (Grove Village Council), and Any Parrish – a local developer who currently holds a seat on the Zoning Board for the City of Miami.
For those who did not read the article, it was aimed to reflect the changes that Grove is going through in a healthy manner. However, it became a vendetta against developers and residents who happen to prefer modern architecture – which is not a crime.Beneath you will find a few excerpts from that article, including:
- David Villano (Grove 2030):
“They (Referring to Developers and Residents) are parasites.”
“They (Referring to Developers and Residents) are sucking the life out of what makes the Grove special. And they are profiting from what they destroy.”
“One of those things (Referring to People’s Homes) is fine. Two is fine. But at some point the Grove won’t be the Grove.”
- Commissioner Ken Russell (City of Miami):
“The speculative developer is not thinking about quality of life, but marketability and cost per square foot.”
- Javier Gonzalez (Grove Village Council)
“The NCD and Miami 21 force developers to build a certain way, so change it. Then you will not get these cheap builders building crap.”
The comments above are made by educated adults, but comes across as elementary style bullying. Those quotes above were made because those individuals simply don’t like the style of modern architecture. However, one of the comments made by Andy Parrish (Zoning Board for City of Miami) caught my attention.
“The out of town developers are not truly appreciate of what the Grove’s character is. They look at it as how much house they can get in. I call it houses by the pound.”
This quote holds more weight than what you may believe. It poses the question of WHERE developers come from, and discriminates them from the start. Why should it matter where, what ethnicity, what race, what religion a developer comes from? This quote by Mr. Parrish highlights what attitude he assumes when a new project is presented to the board – one that discriminates the background of a developer before looking at the quality of a project.
Well, there is a saying about karma….
Mr. Andy Parrish acquired a property on 3940 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL – coincidentally painted white on the exterior. The property also holds some historic designation.
Mr. Parrish only acquired one Roofing Permit for his home. However, with that roofing permit he illegally engaged in total interior demolition including: floors, structure, air conditioning, and electricity WITHOUT permits.
The City of Miami Building Department has issued an “Unsafe Structure Case” on Mr. Parrish’s home. The violation number is: BB2017019353.
People who believe they are above the law- such as Mr. Parrish- currently hold the power to pass or reject projects presented in our city. His actions are hypocritical, and a clear example of abuse of power. I hope that our elected officials – who appoint “leaders” such as Andy Parrish – make the decision to conclude his term as a member of the City of Miami Zoning Board.
Having a seat on that board is a privilege, and requires two simple things - respect and dignity. Any conversation regarding the advancement or protection of out city requires honesty.
Regards,
Guillermo de la Paz.
305-338-0501
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES
NOVEMBER 20, 2017
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I've not written a lot about the goings on in Coconut Grove as it relates to the battles between developers, self-entitled rich folks, what's left of the Black folks from the Bahamas who traditionally considered the West Grove to be their little piece of America and the lying weasel dick City Commissioner Ken "Selfie Boy" Russell, who shuck and jived a lot of those Black folks into thinking he was not going to be another in a long line of lying white politicians, when in fact that's just what he turned out to be, but I got a copy of this letter that a guy named Guillermo de la Paz, sent on on Sunday night.
It's pretty self-explanatory, and raises a very serious question about how Andy Parrish stays on the City of Miami's Planning and Zoning Board if, in fact de la Paz's accusations are true.
Just because there's now a Cuban Millennial Mayor, doesn't mean that when it comes to the down and dirty, things will pretty much continue to go on the same way as when the old Cuban Grifter Mayor was in office.
Remeber that no matter who's Mayor, IT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE MIAMI. BITCHES!