A totally revamped park on the shores of Biscayne Bay recently reopened to the public. The new amenities include a rebuilt sea wall, a path along the waterfront and dozens of native trees to replace the 69 invasive Australian pines that were chopped down.
But from the view of the Rickenbacker Causeway, the most notable new feature is the 53 new solar-powered light poles that fully illuminate the park after dark.
There鈥檚 just one problem: The park still closes at sunset. The public cannot benefit from the new lights.
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According to bid documents and cost estimates obtained by SA国际传谋, more than $350,000 was invested in the new 鈥渟afety lighting鈥� at the public park.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so that the homeless don鈥檛 use it,鈥� suggested Albert Gomez, the co-founder of the Miami Climate Alliance, a group focused on climate change policy. 鈥淧olice officers like to patrol and not get out of the car and not have to go through the park in the dark with flashlights. They would prefer to have lights and be able to spot the homeless people and go and get them out.鈥�
He cited a well-known 鈥�鈥� approach that uses strategic lighting to of residents experiencing homelessness.
A total of $2.6 million for the park project was paid for by the passed by city of Miami voters in 2017. The rest of the money for the $4.9 million project came from a grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District, according to city records. The grant money went towards rebuilding the sea wall.
Much of the money from the bond was meant to be earmarked for resilience projects and to beef up infrastructure to combat the creeping realities of sea level rise. The park project, officially called the 鈥淎lice Wainwright Park Seawall and Resiliency鈥� project, is one of the first batch of bond projects to be partially completed.
鈥淭aking homeless people鈥檚 ability to sleep in a park, how is that adding to resiliency?鈥� asked Gomez.
As a former member of Miami鈥檚 Sea Level Rise Committee, Gomez played a major role in getting the resiliency bond onto the ballot, which was passed by Miami voters in 2017. Yet even at the time, Gomez said he worried the money would be used for projects that had little if anything to do with resiliency or battling the creeping impacts of sea level rise and climate change.
He pushed the city to create specific 鈥渟election criteria鈥� that would apply a range of factors to make sure that the money was spent on tackling resiliency. In the end the city came up with a simple checklist that would determine how money is spent.
鈥淭he way they qualified it is because they are solar lights. Therefore by deploying solar lights, in air quotes, you meet the checkbox in their checklist for meeting the resiliency criteria,鈥� said Gomez. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a perfect example of how when you don鈥檛 have a selection criteria, things can get 鈥榬idered鈥� onto existing renovation projects that aren't really truly resilient.鈥�
He fears that if things go on unchanged, millions of dollars meant to combat the impacts of climate change and sea level rise will be used to fund projects that would be better considered maintenance or non-resilient capital improvement projects. That money should come from the general budget, not from the Miami Forever Bond, he argued.
Gomez points to other ongoing projects funded by the bond that go towards renovating boat ramps, roofing repairs and road projects as examples.
The City of Miami did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.
The Miami Forever Bond has a , which is able to make recommendations and audit how money is spent. However, the board has met infrequently since it was created.
In the latest oversight board meeting, held in December, board members started to ask more pointed questions about requiring stricter resiliency criteria, according to minutes of the meeting.
The board has yet to meet so far in 2022, but a meeting is scheduled for March 30.
Some of the most frequent visitors of Alice Wainwright Park, a group of men experiencing homelessness, were skeptical of the resiliency project from the start.
The sea wall clearly needed repair, said Alberto Lopez, but once the project got started the Australian pine trees were cut down. The little shelters for people to have barbecues on the bay were destroyed, and have not yet been replaced. Gazebos should be coming in the second phase of the project, according to .
鈥淒estroy what鈥檚 there, take out all the plants and then put in some new plants. Keep the money moving,鈥� said Lopez. 鈥淐ome on, man, leave the city how it is. Don鈥檛 keep messing with it.鈥�
When told the estimate of how much the new solar lights cost, he was incredulous.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a robbery, acere,鈥� he said.
His friend Jose Villamonte Fundora said he has been coming to the park for decades. He remembered that Madonna once brought him and his friends pizza when she a few doors down. 鈥淥ut of the goodness of her heart,鈥� he said.
Villamonte Fundora called the resiliency project a 鈥渟windle鈥� that did little to improve the park for residents. He complained that a large section was previously an open field where children would play soccer and throw football in front of the bay, and has now been interplanted with trees and a web of gravel footpaths.
In the project plans, the city said the new native landscaping and new path system was meant to improve drainage and to make the park better able to withstand the impacts of sea level rise.
Albert Gomez continues to push the City of Miami to develop selection criteria for how resiliency money is spent to make sure the maximum amount goes towards its intended purpose, and not line items that are only tangentially related to resiliency goals.
The proposed criteria would require an assessment of the location of the project, how many people the project will impact, and what specific resilience goal the money is alleviating.
鈥淲hat they鈥檙e doing is passing along projects that are not resilient and classifying them as resilient, and frankly most of those should be coming from the general fund, not from the bond,鈥� said Gomez. 鈥淲ill it make it harder for Capital Improvements to green light projects if they implement a selection criteria? Yeah, because it鈥檚 going to require those projects to truly be resilient.鈥�
