Letters

I GIVE UP!

What is with the City of Miami and its refusal to release public records? Records that it is legally obligated to release.
For over two months I have asked for budget records from the mayor, the city manager, the chief financial officer and the director of communication. All of these offices consider me and my requests a nuisance, but all I am doing is exercising my rights to examine City of Miami records. It is not their role to question my motives, but to obey the law and release the records.

A local newspaper recently wrote an article on the exorbitant wages paid to some city employees, yet the city refused to release those records to that news agency. They were released only at the behest of Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. He is to be commended.

When the candidates for the upcoming mayoral election were asked their position on Florida's Sunshine Law, both remain mum on the subject. I have contacted the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office to no avail. There is nowhere else to turn; therefore I give up and will let them keep their 'secrets' secret.

One can only hope that Sarnoff, as an officer of the court, will pursue this illegal action by the City of Miami on behalf of his constituents.
Brent Cutler
Belle Meade

NAMING NAMES

You have a lively 'Letters to the Editor' section every month, but a 'Name Withheld' under 'Too Much Info' in the June letters section left me feeling quite perturbed.

It is standard journalistic practice to print a name, title and/or city with every letter, especially the letter writer's name. So please discontinue this tabloid practice of not printing a name with every letter.
David Merves
Professor of Journalism
Miami Dade College


(Editor's note: On rare occasions, readers will have a valuable point to make, and a valid reason for
asking that their name be withheld. We do not encourage the practice, but when there is merit we tend to honor the request the same way that we honor a credible source who wishes to remain anonymous.)

MIAMITUDE ACCOLADES

Jeannett and I were very impressed with your special keepsake issue in May. I especially enjoyed and read every entry in 'CityWatch: Historic Community News' - it reminded me of my life experience growing up in Miami.
Keep up the good work.
Mayor Don Slesnick
Coral Gables

With a finger on the pulse of all that's new and happening in Miami - and a sensitivity to the past that got us here - Miami Monthly is indispensible reading for me.
Bill Murphy
Miami

This my second time reading 'Miamitude' - a masterpiece of 'amalgamated proportions.' I have tried many times in conversations, but have never been able to 'gestalt' the dots as well as writer Seth Gordon has.
Terrific writing and insight!!
Manuel A.Cambo
Miami

Congratulations on the 'Miamitude' issue! I love to read about the people and events that have shaped our community. I worked with Rosalind Rush Moore years ago at the Metropolitan Museum and Art Center in Coral Gables, so it was fun to see the photos of her with various celebrities.
Kathryn Kondrad
Miami

As a third generation Miamian who has not lived in Miami since the 1980s, I really enjoyed the way your publication captured all that is (and was) Southeast Florida! Your production is excellent - and the online edition's page-flip technology is the best I have ever seen.

I only have one suggestion: it would have been nice to see Bill Cullom, 23+ year president of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, in your feature on Miami's Living Legends. Bill brought a vision to the chamber of commerce profession that was way ahead of its time.

Back in the 1980s, when many of America's large metro chamber executives were more concerned with business card exchanges and networking (something the Greater Miami Chamber mastered way before then), Bill's vision of a community-minded chamber meant that the GMCC became heavily involved in issues such as education, transportation, and homelessness - way before other big city chambers copied it all.

Under his leadership, the chamber forged alliances that helped to develop countless minority businesses, make meaningful strides against crime, and restore civic pride after several tumultuous years of bad press. Most importantly, he did it all with his remarkable ability to forge consensus in a very diverse community where this is not always easy.
So if you ever do a follow-up on some additional leaders who helped make Miami - and Florida - the great place it is, I hope you will consider including Bill Cullom!

Keep up the great work! I plan on subscribing to your magazine now that I have seen it online.
Edward M. Rodriguez
Georgia

I am not sure whether to say 'thank you' or 'congratulations' for your Miamitude party at Crazy Pianos. So I am sending both. You have created something that is both beautiful and important here in Miami - and that is unique. Look forward to many more Miami Monthly parties in the decades to come!
Jeff Wedekind
Miami


Holy cow! I have never, ever seen that many Miami luminaries gathered in the same room. They crossed all disciplines, politics, culture and arts. An excellent fete.
Timothy F. Schmand
Miami


What a great event at Crazy Pianos - you are a class act and put on a great reception. I think you know how much I admire and respect you - you are always there for our community and indeed have Miamitude!
Dianne Raulson
Miami


LITERARY GENIUS

Thank you for including Jim DeFede's column each month in Miami Monthly. I look forward to receiving my copy to read his column first. Having recently moved here from Chicago after living in New York and Europe, I find the column witty, so right-on and refreshing; it reminds of some of the journalists I left in some of the best rags around. His May column [on Father Alberto Cutiˆ©] is worth framing! Please keep gracing us with his literary genius and straight talk!
Nadine Rastelli
Miami

HURRICANE WARNING

While we were all spared a direct hit during the past few years, some residents have been lulled into a false sense of security during hurricane season. Now is not the time to be complacent, but to prepare.
Gather your family and make a family plan, assemble a hurricane kit with enough supplies to last at least 72 hours, volunteer or donate to your local Red Cross chapter.
For hurricane tips and ways to support your local Red Cross, visit miamiredcross.org or cruzrojamiami.org.
Mona Adams
Chair, Board of Directors
American Red Cross Greater
Miami & The Keys


WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?
Send your letters to: Editor@MiamiMonthlyMagazine.com, or Miami Monthly, 3112 Commodore Plaza, Miami, FL 33133. Please include your full name, address and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of Miami Monthly.