Change at Overtown CRA comes with Christine King — and favors her allies

Newly-elected Miami Commissioner Christine King had her first city commission meeting Thursday and was praised and complimented by her colleagues on her solid victory Nov. 2.

“You didn’t win, you got a mandate,” said Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who had lobbied hard to appoint her last year to fill the seat vacated when Commissioner Keon Hardemon ran for the county seat. DLP said her getting 65% of the vote was a reflection of her service to the community for the past several years as president of the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp.

“I know you will govern the right way. You know your community and I am proud to be welcoming you commissioner. Be careful what you asked for,” DLP joked. Nobody laughed.

In the middle of the commission meeting, King also presided over her first meeting as the new chairwoman of the Southeast Overtown West Park Community Redevelopment Agency — and installed a new executive director.

It’s none other than James McQueen, former chief of staff to former Miami Commissioner and current Miami-Dade Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who handpicked King — no, practically groomed her — as his heir. McQueen has been working as a lobbyist for Munilla Construction Management since leaving Miami City Hall last year.

Former Executive Director Cornelius “Neil” Shiver (photo below) said he was not surprised to find himself out of a job. New commissioners like to bring in their own people, he admitted. But Shiver wasn’t just the CRA head. He was also chief of staff to former Commissioner Jeffrey Watson, who ran and lost against King.

So everyone expected King to make a change. But what wasn’t expected was for Shiver to be so darn nice about it.

“My work is not done. And I think the accolades should go to you all, because we have accomplished a lot in Overtown,” he said after they thanked him for his service.

Well, maybe he is happy about the golden parachute.

The separation and general release agreement with the city provides for Shiver to get three months pay, all his unused sick and vacation time, and 9 months of his health insurance premium paid. In return, he won’t sue.

Ladra could not establish what Shiver gets paid, but it’s surely over six figures and then some. And he’s done such a good job the past four years that he got a 5% raise this last August.

Not that it’s not a valuable position.

The CRA head is in charge of an often overlooked but important agency with an $86 million budget that gives millions away annually in grants to non-profits, businesses and builders for programs and projects. These are dedicated tax dollars that the city and county agree to set aside for development in these zones to fight urban blight and neglect.

In the 2019-20 fiscal year, for example, the SEOWP CRA reportedly gave:

$150,000 to the Overtown Employment Assistance Center
$200,000 to Hospitality Employees Advancement & Training, Inc. (“HEAT”) to underwrite costs associated with a hospitality training program located in the Overtown Performing Arts Center offering courses for positions such as baker’s helper, professional cook, bus person, banquet server, and hotel guest room attendant.
$350,000 to Human Resource Staffing of Miami, Inc. to oversee and administer the Overtown Beautification Team Program. Participants are employed to provide street cleaning services along the NW 3rd Avenue Business Corridor and the surrounding areas in the CRA boundaries.
$400,000 to the owners of 241 NW 17th St., for renovation and rehabilitation of 26 single rooms and six shared bathrooms to increase the affordable housing inventory in the CRA.
$585,000 on the rehabilitation of an 18-unit apartment building located within the SEOPW CRA boundaries at 1767 N.W. 3rd Avenue. The building was built in 1959 and was in need of significant repairs. The scope of renovations included the full gut rehabilitation of the 18-units. Building improvements included the installation of a new roof, windows, doors, HVAC systems, and electrical upgrades. Each apartment also got new kitchens and bathrooms, and a washer and dryer.
$750,000 for the construction of two, 2-story, 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath homes with covered porches and covered parking as part of the agency’s homeownership initiative.
$1.6 million for a three-story, four-unit affordable housing project, located on vacant land at 244 NW 16th St. as part of the agency’s home-ownership initiative.
$10 million to the St. John Plaza Apartments, a new multi-family affordable housing rental development at 1327 NW 3rd Ave., which has 90 one, two- and three bedroom units and 8,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. Additional amenities include a community room, computer lab, library, playground and parking garage. St. John Apartments is a private/public partnership between St. John Community Development Corporation, Boston Capital and the CRA. Total cost of construction: $25 million.

There’s also nearly $40 million poured into the Town Park Plaza North and South rehabilitation of 285 apartments in 37 buildings. According to the 2020 annual report, 222 of those units are completed.

These are big projects. Overtown is in the midst of a development boom.

Developer Michael Swerdlow and his partners are building a 578-unit affordable housing rental complex for seniors, with a 50,000-square-foot Target, on nearly 4 acres at 249 NW Sixth St.

And developer Michael Simkins has been accumulating properties, including 13 lots last year for a little over $5 million. He is working with the CRA to turn the area into an entertainment district with tower apartments looming over bars and restaurants.

Both men are serial campaign contributors. Swerdlow gave Watson’s political action committee $25,000 (ooooops) and Hardemon’s PAC at least $27,000. Simkins and brother Ronald gave Hardemon’s PAC at least $61,000 and Diaz de la Portilla at least $10,000.

Ladra thinks it’s time to start paying attention to the Overtown CRA.

Christine King, CRAs, Keon Hardemon

Change at Overtown CRA comes with Christine King — and favors her allies added by Ladra on November 19, 2021
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