Volume 95 Number 40 | MAY 23-29, 2018 | MiamiTimesOnline.com | Ninety-Three Cents MEMORIAL DAY Contentious meeting ends with proposal Brownsville residents have 30 days to give county, developer their thoughts NYAMEKYE DANIEL and item by item, was the list [email protected] of benefits for Liberty Square and the “proposed” benefits About 40 residents of the for Lincoln Gardens, the two Brownsville neighborhood communities that make up the sat in a recreational room in Liberty Square Rising rede- Marva Y. Bannerman Park. velopment project. They listened attentively as Edmonson stressed that Miami-Dade Commissioner what residents were view- Photos: Melissa Sue Gerrits/The Fayetteville Observer Myeshia Johnson holds her son La David Johnson Jr., 2, during a ceremony to unveil memorial stones for Miami Times staff/Nyamekye Daniel her husband Sgt. La David Johnson and seven other men from the 3rd Special Forces Group on May 22. A longtime Brownsville resident speaks at a Commu- nity Engagement Meeting regarding the Community Benefits Package for the Liberty Square Rising project May 17 at Marva Y. Bannerman Park. Honors for Audrey Edmonson spoke as ing were proposed ideas and she stood left of a projector that nothing was etched in screen with a powerpoint pre- stone. A 27-page hand out was sentation on May 17. a comparison between the HOMETOWN HERO On the screen, side by side SEE END 8A ANDREA ROBINSON [email protected] New audit firm his week, Sgt. La David Terrence Johnson’s North Carolina colleagues called his name several times. His photo was placed on a draws a debate placard along a 5K race path. His name was etchedT on a granite stone, placed in perpetuity. The people of Fort Bragg turned out en masse on Black firm S. Davis and Associates Tuesday as his Army unit, the 3rd Special Forces Group, selected; some on board seek delay honored Johnson and seven other members of the He gave his life in service to his country, and Associates to provide ex- storied regiment during a memorial ceremony to honor ANDREA ROBINSON dying in a foreign land. [email protected] ternal auditing services. A Cu- soldiers who died during the last year. He was a Miami ban American firm was select- The ceremony held at Fort Bragg, is one of three Gardens resident who The Miami-Dade ed as a subcontractor County school board at the Army base, the home of the 82nd Airborne, on the project. was loved in the com- members selected a Both items sparked the division to which Johnson belonged. During the munity.“ It was more new chief auditor and lengthy procedural ceremony, soldiers unveiled a granite stoned with than appropriate.” a Black-owned firm to debates. In the case of Johnson’s name. oversee a long-await- the auditing firm se- ed external audit of lection, at least three SEE HERO 8A —Mayor Oliver Gilbert the $1.2 billion bond. members suggested But after watching that the decision be deliberations by the delayed. board, some Black ob- Gallon Marta Perez and servers still wonder others asked for the if the audit will get delay because only done. one company submit- On Wednesday eve- ted a proposal. “ ning, board members “Why were more approved two items people not interest- needed to move for- ed?” Perez asked. ward for the first ex- “That is a concern of ternal audit of the mine.” voter-approved gen- Susie Castillo said eral obligation bond. Rojas she needed more time The Black communi- to review the propos- ty has long called for al submitted by the such an independent company. She said examination. she hadn’t received First, the board ap- the documents to re- proved 8-1 to select view until the day of Maria T. Gonzalez as the board meeting, the chief auditor. Gon- and did not want to zalez is a 27-year em- vote on something ployee of the district she hasn’t had time to and currently serves review. as the assistant chief Frazier “It was just sent auditor. this morning,” Castillo said. Second, members approved School board critics are ea- Soldiers join to remember men from the 3rd Special Forces Group who were killed in combat in 2017 on another 8-1 vote to award a ger to have an outside audit of during a ceremony at Memorial Walk on May 22. $200,000 contract to S. Davis SEE DEBATE 6A Meghan Markle’s mother is no BUSINESS ................................................. 9B YOU & YOURS ............................................ 7D Today ‘Imitation of Life’ 82° drama CLASSIFIED ............................................. 13B FAITH CALENDAR ................................... 8D IN GOOD TASTE ......................................... 1C HEALTH & WELLNESS ............................. 9D 7D INSIDE LIFESTYLE HAPPENINGS ....................... 5C OBITUARIES ............................................. 12D 8 90158 00100 0 Editorials Cartoons Opinions Letters VIEWPOINT BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY | MAY 23-29, 2018 | MiamiTimesOnline.com Credo Of The Black Press MEMBER: National Newspaper Periodicals Postage EDITORIAL The Black Press believes that America Publisher Association paid at Miami, Florida (ISSN 0739-0319) can best lead the world from racial and MEMBER: The Newspaper POSTMASTER: Published Weekly at 900 NW 54th Street, Association of America Send address changes to national antagonism when it accords Miami, Florida 33127-1818 Subscription Rates: One Year THE MIAMI TIMES, to every person, regardless of race, Wake up, South Florida! Post Office Box 270200 $52.99 – Two Year $99.99 P.O. Box 270200 creed or color, his or her human and Buena Vista Station, Miami, Florida 33127 Foreign $75.00 Buena Vista Station, Miami, FL Phone 305-694-6210 legal rights. Hating no person, fearing 7 percent sales tax for Florida residents 33127-0200 • 305-694-6210 Speak up on sea-level no person, the Black Press strives to H.E. SIGISMUND REEVES, Founder, 1923-1968 help every person in the firm belief that GARTH C. REEVES, JR., Editor, 1972-1982 all persons are hurt as long as anyone You know the boiling frog story. A frog is put in a pot of water GARTH C. REEVES, SR., Publisher Emeritus is held back. Publisher and Chairman that is slowly brought to a boil. By the time the frog senses danger, RACHEL J. REEVES, it’s too late. Froggie’s a goner. Well, wake up, folks. South Florida is Ground Zero for sea-level rise and unless we address the insidious rise of water around us, Myth of the ‘welfare queen’ endures much of our region, our culture and our legacy is going to disap- pear. DARLENE GLANTON, Chicago Tribune We’re already seeing things we’ve never seen before: sunny-day Republicans voted last Donald Trump, House Re- notion that their hard-earned flooding, sea water bubbling up from stormwater drains, flood week on a farm bill that once publicans are setting out to tax dollars might be subsidiz- control gates that can’t open because water on the coastal side again takes aim at the infa- put an end to this conniving ing people they think are un- is higher than the inland side, saltwater intrusion in more drink- mous “welfare queen.” The user once and for all. worthy. These folks will never ing water wells, the Intracoastal Waterway spilling over seawalls, problem is that she does not In order to receive about go out and get a job when they drainage canals lapping at sidewalks, gravity-driven stormwater exist. $150 to $185 a month in ben- can live off taxpayers for free. systems hampered by the rising water table, and people unable to Conservatives refuse to efits, SNAP participants be- The truth is that the That never happened. But leave their homes during autumn’s king tides. give up their quest to bring tween the ages of 18 and 59 average food stamp her legend lives on. And don’t forget the octopus that surfaced in a Miami Beach down this lazy, scheming, would have to prove they are recipient isn’t an urban The truth is that the aver- parking garage through a storm drain last year. Black woman who uses her working least 20 hours a week Black woman at all. She age food stamp recipient isn’t Far more dramatic change is coming in the next few decades. food stamps and other gov- or participating in an equiva- is a white woman. an urban Black woman at all. By 2060, South Florida’s building codes anticipate a two-foot rise “ ernment aid to support a lav- lent job training program. She is a white woman. in sea level, maybe more. ish lifestyle with countless Those who are disabled or And the people who ben- Against this backdrop, what we’re not seeing is state and feder- jobless men who drift in and raising a child younger than 6 efit most from food stamps al leadership to address the water headed our way. out of her bed. would be exempt. there’s no evidence such paid for with our hard-earned That’s why the editorial boards of the region’s three major They have heard about the What’s wrong with that, sweeping work requirements tax dollars aren’t primarily newspapers — the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and piles of research and other you might ask? Nothing, if you would be effective. They Black kids living in father- Palm Beach Post, with reporting help from WLRN Public Media documentation that prove she assume that the only people likely would serve only to in- less homes. They are little — are speaking with one voice again today. is — and always has been — who don’t have jobs are the crease hunger and poverty for white kids who would starve We want to encourage you to make your voice heard on the nothing more than a myth.