MIAMI BEACH, Florida. – Miami Beach voters are asked to stop selling alcohol at 2 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. Proponents of the move, backed by Mayor Dan Gelber, are linking the three-hour rollback with ending crime and chaos in South Beach.
But on a private Zoom call last month, Gelber met with developers to enlist their support for a major rewrite of Ocean Drive and the entertainment district.
At the forefront of the meeting and the fundraising was former Miami Beach Mayor and businessman Philip Levine.
“Money is a big part of politics, and there are people who agree with us and there are people who disagree with us,” Levine told developers. The audio clips were given to Local 10 News by a participant on the Zoom call. (Turn on Local 10 News at 6:00 p.m. to hear the sound.)
“There are six commissioners,” said Levine. “Two of them will be new. We must use whatever leverage we can to get these six commissioners to follow the vision and agenda of the mayor and manager to make the city safer. “
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The audio is a rare public firsthand account of how developers use money to influence the votes of your elected officials.
It may not come as a surprise – and it may be perfectly legal – but it does raise questions about the real reason behind the effort to raise the final call for South Beach entertainment companies.
“Our staff will be available,” one heard Gelber say. “If you come up with an adaptive reuse of something, we’ll want to hear it. And I am committed to you: if you want something on the ballot because it has to be on the ballot, I support it and I am ready to do anything and support any idea, even if it is not particularly popular. “
In a public campaign for the question on the Miami Beach November ballot, the Mayor ties the undoing of the last call to curbing crime and beginning to change the reputation of Miami Beach.
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Those who make a living in the entertainment district blame the city’s mismanagement for crime and mayhem, not three hours of drinks sales.
“This is the city of Miami Beach that is spending the money,” said Mario Trejo, bartender at Twist.
The straw question on the ballot is that the locations for the rollback should be set by the city commissioners – the same commissioners developers at the meeting said would pay them to sway.
“We must take the initiative to influence these commissioners so that they follow the mayor in his vision and agenda,” said Levine, “or they will be hindered in their agenda.”
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