Miami-Dade Mayor Speaks With Residents Over Liberty Square Project

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LIBERTY CITY (CBSMiami) -- As a huge project to re-develop part of Liberty City moves forward, politicians and pastors continue making accusations and pointing fingers.

Residents attended a community meeting at the Liberty Square Community Center to hear from Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his staff about the $300,000,000 Liberty Square redevelopment project.

Roughly two dozen protesters in neon green shirts chanted their opposition to the bidding process to select the developer, Related Urban.

Like many residents of the Liberty Square Public Housing Complex, a mother who spoke with CBS4's Natalia Zea did not want to give her name, but she doesn't mince words about her feelings about the crime here and upkeep of the complex.

"Straight hell. But you just have to deal with it for you can do better," she said.

She thinks the plan to completely rebuild Liberty Square is a good one, though she doesn't think she'll be here to see it.

"They ain't fixin' to do nothing to these things no time soon," she told Zea.

The county selection process recommended the project to the developer Related Urban. Some pastors in the area, as well as County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, were vocal that they feel residents were not integral to the process and questioned how the developer was selected.

"It's about the process and I feel personally that my district has been disrespected," said Edmonson.
"Mr. Mayor you better do what's right. Mr. Mayor, you better treat folks in Liberty Square right," added community activist Rev. Richard Dunn.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is leading the project, defends the choice.

"It was a very fair process. A process within the code of Miami-Dade County and a process we have done in the past," said Gimenez.

NAACP spokesman Darryl Holsendolph agrees. He and other leading business leaders in the black community are critical of those fighting against the plan.

"None of those gentlemen are at the table when it comes to advocating for jobs and contracts. We can't have people going to make a soundbite and then they disappear," said Holsendolph.

They say the plan must move forward and that the County must do more to guarantee more jobs and businesses throughout Liberty City.

"This project is the start of something that has to be different. We have to make sure that black businesses get contracts, the people who reside in that development, if they desire and would like a job around the business, they can."

Some Liberty City residents Zea spoke with don't have an opinion on developers, the infighting, or least of all, county politics, other than simply not believing a positive change is coming to this area.

"It's all talk but no action, that's all I know. I really can't say what they're gonna do, how they're gonna do it... you hear one thing and it still goes back to being the same thing," said Toby Gillum.

That group of pastors opposing the developer selection sent HUD Secretary Julian Castro a letter, asking him to order the county to start the bidding process over again.