Letters from the Issue of , 2002

Desperately Seeking Stupid Gringos

Tarnation, Jethro! You mean to tell me that Ricky Ricardo fella ain’t but some actor? Thanks to Celeste Fraser Delgado (“Feel the Latin Grammys,” August 28) we all know it was the Miami-based ad company Punto Ogilvy that came up with those pitifully lame “Feel the Latino” Grammy posters. Might as well have been some guy from Cleveland who speaks no Spanish and thinks Ricky Ricardo was a real person.

I don’t know whether to laugh or be insulted, since both responses are appropriate. We’re talking cheap pandering and obvious lack of self-confidence. Even if the “concept” came from cynical advertising hacks, that doesn’t excuse the people at the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences who approved and paid for it. They’ll get no respect from the audience they’re desperately after, and they don’t deserve any.

Mario Encino

Fort Lauderdale

Bay Link: Benefits Galore

Remove the melodrama from the debate and you’ll see: Okay, I’ll start this by admitting up front that I am not a huge fan of Miami Beach Mayor David Dermer. That said, he is still way off base regarding Bay Link, the light-rail project proposed to run from Miami to Miami Beach. In “Mud on the Tracks” (August 28), Francisco Alvarado reported some of the points in favor of Bay Link, but there are other obvious ones.

A light-rail system would have a sizable positive impact on the number of cars driven into Miami Beach each day by the thousands of hospitality-industry workers who would welcome any opportunity to not deal with parking on the Beach. Hotel and restaurant owners would also love it as parking is a major hindrance to retaining good staff. Event producers would be able to attract more people if parking didn’t scare away so many drivers. If Bay Link ran late enough, club owners would also welcome it and the increased attendance of a loyal club-going crowd that could park in Miami and have a quick ride to Washington Avenue’s nightspots. The decrease in on-street parking along the route would be offset by the decrease in cars coming to the Beach. Yes, construction will be a bitch, but so what — so was the recent upgrade of Collins Avenue, and that is already paying off.

I could go on and on but I think the argument for a light-rail system is sound — when not presented with dramatics and finger-pointing. That’s why it garners support from a majority of Miami Beach residents. Dermer has a reputation for being melodramatic when it comes to his antiquated “us versus them” stance on issues. It’s a shame there isn’t a stronger candidate running against Dermer for mayor this year.

Please withhold my name. I have a couple of résumés in for positions with the city. I don’t think it would help if someone connected the dots.

Name Withheld by Request

Biscayne Park

Bay Link: Big Trouble

Which I tried to explain to your disingenuous reporter: Though New Times reporter Frank Alvarado interviewed me for an hour for his Bay Link story, I was surprised he only repeated one thing I said about former Miami Beach Mayor Neisen Kasdin.

I chair the Sierra Club’s Miami Group. The Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental advocacy organization in the U.S., with approximately 3000 Miami-Dade members. Alvarado asked why our group opposes the Bay Link rail plan. I explained that our board believes Miami Beach’s bus system should be upgraded throughout the entire city with new, clean, and efficient vehicles and technologies instead of laying tracks around South Beach. Advancing the bus system would improve public transportation for more people and prevent disruptive, expensive, and unnecessary rail construction.

Alvarado challenged me, saying that our position was contrary to the Sierra Club’s national transportation policies. I responded that he was wrong and that his misstatement was identical to a complaint Kasdin made to the Sierra Club’s national office. Kasdin complained that the Miami Group departed from the club’s national policies. The Sierra Club, however, did not ask the Miami Group to rethink our position. Kasdin was plainly wrong. The Sierra Club encourages communities to enhance all “environmentally friendly” modes of transit, such as modernizing bus systems, increasing bike lanes, and improving pedestrian amenities. I explained that rail transit is one tool in a transportation planner’s tool kit, but it isn’t a panacea.

Then Alvarado defended Kasdin and said he had no financial or political interests in the Bay Link project. He correctly reported that I said Kasdin “is certainly doing the work of a paid lobbyist.”

Alvarado asked if I was alleging that Kasdin represents someone tied to Bay Link, and I replied I had no idea. He correctly reported my suggestion that “for all we know, he could be representing contractors who would gain work from building a light-rail system.”

I don’t think it was fair for Alvarado to ignore everything I said in an hour-long interview except for a comment he overemphasized to divert attention from the real issue. The real issue is that modern bus systems provide the same quality of service with the same public acceptance as rail systems, but more flexibly, quickly, affordably, and without disruptive rail construction.

Alvarado ignored another important fact. During the interview he said that a survey about Bay Link, sponsored by Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, shows residents want the project. I pointed out that more people responded they favored improving bus services to building a rail system. This important fact was also ignored. Alvarado was unfair, inaccurate, and disingenuous toward the issues and people he covered, as well as to Miami New Times readers.

Stuart Reed

Miami Beach

Editor’s note: Stuart Reed is a candidate for the Miami Beach City Commission in this November’s election.

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An Insult to My People

Next time you want to trash José Cancela and Radio Unica, call me first: I find it deeply disappointing that Brett Sokol found it necessary to bash Radio Unica in order to prop up Commissioner Jimmy Morales’s mayoral candidacy (“A Plunge into the Mainstream,” August 28). Placing Radio Unica in the criminal categories of WorldCom and Enron is both malicious and offensive. His incredibly slanted and biased column insults more than 300 employees of Radio Unica (100 in South Florida alone), our hundreds of loyal advertisers, and the millions of listeners of this national network.

The creation of Radio Unica, the only national Spanish-language talk-radio network in America, has been widely heralded as the most original concept in Hispanic media of the last twenty years. Yes, these are difficult economic times for everyone. Yes, the recession and weakening of the capital markets has affected us. But no, Radio Unica has not defaulted nor intends to default on its debt. Indeed just today [August 29] we have finished making another $9.3 million interest payment, despite recent erroneous media speculation to the contrary.

Mr. Sokol’s comments about the class-action lawsuit filed against our company were particularly one-sided and inflammatory. Had he done his homework he would have found the truth of the matter in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Both papers have documented how the primary targets of the class-action suit, filed against all 300-plus companies that launched their IPOs between October 1999 and December 2000 (Radio Unica among them), were the IPO underwriters, not the companies themselves, their officers or directors. Furthermore, and as reported by us, all of Radio Unica’s officers and directors (including Mr. José Cancela) were dismissed from this case almost a year ago!

José Cancela has had a highly successful 25-year career in Hispanic media at Univision, Telemundo, and Radio Unica. He is considered one of the top broadcasting executives in the industry. It’s too bad Brett Sokol felt compelled to attack him by resorting to such scathing and unfounded attacks, which constitute nothing less than character assassination. The next time reporters from New Times decide to write something about Radio Unica, I would appreciate it if they would contact me first, at least to get our side of the story. Mr. Sokol didn’t even do that.

Steven E. Dawson, executive vice president and CFO

Radio Unica Communications Corp.

Miami