New Miami Beach citizens group has roots in Belle Isle

A new Miami Beach citizen advocacy group, Miami Beach United, plans to announce itself at a press conference Wednesday at 6 p.m. in front of City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Dr.

Three key founders live on Belle Isle — former Miami Beach Commissioner Nancy Liebman (9 Island Avenue resident), Belle Isle Residents Association president Scott Diffenderfer (Belle Plaza), and Belle Isle Residents Association board member Herb Frank (Grand Venetian).

Another activist key to its formation is activist Herb Sosa, leader of the Unity Coalition, who helped draft the new group’s its mission statement:

Dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Miami Beach residents, managed and measured growth for our city, and ethical leadership of government — for a vibrant city root in history, its people, resources and neighborhoods, with focus on the future.

The group has been organizing for several months, and met in February to go over key goals and develop a strategy for raising money through donations. The non-profit says all donations will go “right back into efforts to improve the quality of life for all in Miami Beach..”

Miami Beach activists work to organize neighborhood coalition

A group of Miami Beach activists is seeking to organize city neighborhoods, including Belle Isle, around a range of issues from traffic to what is reasonable development of the convention center.

Led by a core of 20 activists, the group held its first meeting in January. On Saturday, longtime Miami Beach activist and former City Commissioner Nancy Liebman emailed a large number of Miami Beach residents to invite them to a second meeting on Feb. 16 on Belle Isle to help the group refine its mission.

The call to action includes a questionnaire to fine-tune key issues and get feedback on a proposed mission statement, drafted by activist Herb Sosa:

Dedicated to ongoing and consistent attention to quality of life issues, sustainable growth and sound leadership for a vibrant city rooted in history, its people, resources and neighborhoods, with a focus on the future. 

Here’s a look at the questionnaire:

NAME OF GROUP   (choose 3 best):  87=the number of streets in Miami Beach

_____MIAMI BEACH ACTIVISTS COALITION

_____MIAMI BEACH RESIDENTS COALITION

_____MIAMI BEACH UNITED – 87 STRONG

_____87 UNITED:  FOR A PROGRESSIVE MIAMI BEACH

_____87 UNITED  

_____MIAMI BEACH UNITED

_____BEACH RESIDENTS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

ISSUES OF CONCERN CITYWIDE:   Check your three best in each of the four categories below:

QUALITY OF LIFE: 

_____ SPECIAL EVENTS    _____CLEANLINESS _____TRAFFIC  _____NOISE

 _____ VISUAL & AESTHETIC POLLUTION _____COMMERCIAL ENCROACHMENT _____ENFORCEMENT OF CODES _____MAINTAIN GREENSPACE

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH:

______MANAGE DENSITY _________PRESERVE THE FABRIC OF THE CITY

______REASONABLE CONVENTION CENTER DEVELOPMENT

 ______COMPATIBILITY DEVELOPMENT ON NEIGHBORHOOD BORDERS

 _____ IMPROVED INFRASTRUCTURE

SOUND LEADERSHIP:

_______ SUPPORT RESPONSIVE POLITICIANS  

 ______IDENTIFY QUALIFIED BOARD MEMBERS 

______ ENCOURAGE PUBLIC SERVICE

A VIBRANT FUTURE:

______BUILD A BETTER VISION: ENHANCE THE “VILLAGE LIFESTYLE”

______PEDESTRIAN QUALITY

______ PUBLIC BAY WALKS

______INCREASE CULTURAL EVENTS AND VENUES

______RESPECT NATURAL BEAUTY AND GREEN SPACE

______PROMOTE DIVERSIFICATION AND TOLERANCE

 In her email to “friends and neighbors,” Liebman said that responses to a first survey “provided meat for the bones of this fledgling organization.”