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Anthropomorphizing Coral Gables

My hometown regularly gets written up in travel magazines, especially this time of year. It’s usually amusing to see what travel writers choose to emphasize.

Here’s one with a particularly odd and sexist leed: Coral Gables - The Hidden Gem of Miami

South Beach might be the party girl that you stay out with until the sun comes up, but its neighbor Coral Gables is much more like the girl-next-door. A bit more quiet and reserved, yet classy and upscale with substance and style, while showing off its classic beauty.

How should one anthropomorphize Coral Gables? Some kind of (sub)urban professional who likes a good time, but in moderation?

[Comments re-opened]

Sign of the Times (Cobb Salad Edition)

It’s sort of a family joke, but every so often — not that often, but every so often, maybe a few times a year — I get a hankering for a Cobb Salad. For the past decade or more, when that happens I’ve dragged my wife, or sometimes the whole family, off to South Miami’s Beverly Hills Cafe. I don’t know how long it’s been there, but 15 years at least. It wasn’t expensive, and if wasn’t super-cheap either, well they made up for it with big portions, fast and attentive service, and very nice hot rolls while you waited. And it was usually busy. Sometimes you had to wait. I even forgave them for expanding into the space formerly occupied by Joe’s News, which, pre-internet was the best place to get out-of-town and international newspapers and magazines.

I got that Cobb Salad feeling today, and I took myself off to South Miami, just on the other side of US 1 from my neighborhood, but when I got to the Beverly Hills Cafe, so long a feature of Sunset Ave, there was a sign on the door that they’re closed due to the recession. I don’t know if it’s the whole seven-location chain, or just the one near me, but either way, it was a surprise.

Then again, maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Most times over the years when I went there for lunch on a weekday, the place seemed full of local business types — especially real estate and banking folks. I guess they don’t eat out so much these days.

(The parking lot behind the restaurant that used to have a guard and charge by the hour seems to have been taken over by the City of South Miami, and turned into city metered parking, which I suppose is the only tiny silver lining in the story. But they meter even on Sundays.)

Next best Cobb Salad that I know of in the area is at the Coral Gables Diner, in downtown Coral Gables, but it’s further away and harder to park, the salad is smaller, not as nice, significantly more expensive ($15!?!), and their honey mustard dressing is lame.

Not to mention a lot of people must have lost their jobs, as the Beverly Hills was pretty big.

King Mango Strut's Final Year???

The New Times reports that this could be the Last Year for King Mango Strut? — a victim of red tape and increasing costs imposed by the City of Miami.

The King Mango Strut is a local tradition — a wacky parade for no discernible reason, about not too much, with lots of silly floats and marchers satirizing local politicians and current events. It’s good pointless fun.

Dec. 28 at 2pm if you want to catch what might be the last, historic, Strut:

The strut route begins at the corner of Commodore Plaza and Main Highway. It turns left onto Main Highway and then turns left onto Grand Avenue at Cocowalk and turn left again at Commodore Plaza. If we are having too much fun we will go around again until we all fall down. Right after the strut, there will be parties all around the Grove.

Shortest Day Not Very Short

So today is the “Winter Solstice”. Apparently in other places that means it is dark and cold. Here, it means that it’s warm and sunny.

UM should market itself as the ‘Law School in Paradise’….

I Got Polled Last Night

A pollster called last night, wanting to speak to the “youngest male in the household who is over 18.” Which turns out to be me.

All the questions were about relations with Cuba — should we allow relatives to travel, everyone to travel, relatives to send remittances, foster cultural exchanges etc. The only two somewhat surprising questions were at the end: Would support for relaxing the embargo make me more likely to vote for a Congressional candidate? And, which is more important, the Cuba issue or health care, education and the economy?

They never tell you who sponsored the poll, so I don’t know if this was for a news organization, or — it seems much less likely it being so early — for someone thinking of running for Congress in 2010.

Cheap Flight

In Airlines Cutting Fares for Holiday Season the Washington Post asks,

Nashville for Thanksgiving, anyone? Miami for Christmas?

Yes, Miami for Christmas. That’s the ticket for me.

Rube Goldberg's Spirit Alive and Well in Miami

This place really is amazing. This morning’s Herald had this beauty: Balloon birds = lights out,

A run-in between a singing Hannah Montana balloon and a flock of birds knocked out power to a Miami neighborhood Monday.

The incident unfolded about 7:30 a.m. outside Jose De Diego Middle School, 3100 NW Fifth Ave..

Fire officials said the balloon may have scared about 300 birds that roost on power lines near the school, knocking a line loose when the birds fled.

It caused a power outage in a five-block radius for a few hours, and forced the rescheduling of an event at the school with Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

All the birds survived.

The small pink-and-silver Hannah Montana balloon was the only thing that did not emerge unscathed — though it did greet Miami Fire Rescue personnel with the teen singer’s hit The Best of Both Worlds.

Rube Goldberg would be proud.

Power was out in my neighborhood for most of Saturday afternoon. I wonder if we had a balloon too?

Notes From the Front Lines

Just spent an hour and a half before class handing out Taddeo leaflets at my local precinct. The isn’t that long, but it is moving slowly — voters say it’s a 40-70 minute wait.

One thing slowing the count is that many student voters are being rejected for social security mis-matches. It’s a suspiciously large fraction of them. Originally the clerks were failing to give proper instructions about how the provisional ballots worked, and but for the presence of the voting rights attorney organized through the Obama campaign, those students would not have cast valid ballots. Fortunately, he was there, and the he explained to them what they had to do. Then he straightened out the clerks, and by the time I left the trickle of rejected voters had not lessened but it seemed they were being treated better.

Another issue is that all the students in two large dorms seem to have been sent erroneous voting cards which show their voting location to be my precinct when in fact they vote on campus. (I think I heard it was Eaton and Hecht, but I’m not sure.) If you are a UM student, look for signs by the entrance to your dorm giving you instructions where to vote, or call the elections department.

I hope this is simple error and not malice…

[ Find Your Polling Place | Voting Info For Your State | Know Your Voting Rights | Report Voting Problems ]

See Wait Times at Local Polling Stations

MiamiHerald.com has taken the data about waiting times at South Florida polling places and mapped them to make them easier to use on a somewhat real-time basis.

(Thanks to MM for the pointer.)

Meanwhile, I’m working through my sample ballot, and (in response to actual popular demand) plan to post a personal voting guide Real Soon Now™.

Early Voting Takes Determination

Colleagues who have voted early at the Coral Gables library report long lines, and long wait times.

The Miami-Dade Elections Department has posted a list of early voting sites with approximate wait times at each location.   At this writing, the most recent data is for 2pm yesterday, and wait times varied from thirty minutes to two and half hours. I think 30 minutes might be tolerable, but to run a system that makes voters wait two and a half hours is a sign of either poor planning or an attempt to suppress the vote. Being a believer that one should rarely attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence, I’m prepared to believe it’s the elections dept. being its usual wonderful self, but even so….
 
Update — I found the following in my email:

To help students, faculty, and staff take advantage of early voting, the University will be providing free shuttle service to the Coral Gables library election site starting today. Shuttles from Stanford Circle on the Coral Gables campus will be running today, Thursday, October 23 and tomorrow, Friday, October 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; next Monday, October 27 through Friday, October 31 from 12 to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, November 1 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

If the wait times are a couple of hours, seems to me there’s a danger anyone who goes out after about noon on these shuttles might get stranded, or will give up and go home. And as for voting on your lunch hour, fuggedaboutit.

Here’s a snapshot of the table.

Location Wait Time (Hr:Min) Last Updated North Dade Regional Library 2455 NW 183rd Street 3:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm North Miami Public Library 835 NE 132nd Street 1:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Lemon City Library 430 NE 61st Street 2:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Aventura Government Center 19200 West Country Club Drive 2:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Miami Beach City Hall 1700 Convention Center Drive 0:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm West Miami - City Hall 901 SW 62nd Avenue 0:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Coral Gables Library 3443 Segovia Street 1:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm South Dade Regional Library 10750 SW 211th Street 1:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Florida City - City Hall 404 West Palm Drive 2:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm West Dade Regional Library 9445 SW 24th Street 1:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm West Kendall Regional Library 10201 Hammocks Blvd. 2:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Elections Dept. (SOE Main Office) 2700 NW 87th Avenue 1:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Miami Lakes Public Library 6699 Windmill Gate Road 2:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Elections Dept. (Stephen P. Clark Center) 111 NW 1st Street 0:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Kendall Branch Library 9101 SW 97th Avenue 0:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Model City Library (at the Caleb Center) 2211 NW 54th Street 0:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm John F Kennedy Library 190 West 49th Street 1:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm Coral Reef Library 9211 SW 152nd Street 1:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm City of Miami - City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive 1:00 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm North Shore Branch Library 7501 Collins Avenue 0:30 Oct 22 2008 2:00pm

 

George Bush's Stealth Visit to Coral Gables

Even the traveling press isn’t being told exactly where George Bush will be in Coral Gables tomorrow.

This is all the White House will say:

Coral Gables, Florida
2:35 p.m. EDT - EVENT: REMARKS AT A CONGRESSIONAL TRUST 2008
3:25 p.m. EDT RECEPTION
(CLOSED PRESS) LOCATION: Private Residence
Coral Gables, Florida

3:45 p.m. EDT - 4:30 p.m. EDT EVENT: MEETING WITH CUBAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEADERS
(TRAVEL POOL COVERAGE AT END)

LOCATION: Coral Gables Location
Coral Gables, Florida

I suppose they know that if they let anything out, the demonstrators would be out in force. Probably headed by an army of retirees who have seen their savings start to evaporate.

Yes, George Bush is afraid of angry grandmothers. Probably with good reason.

There Goes the Neighborhood

From the White House Press Office:

Friday, October 10

2:35 pm THE PRESIDENT attends a Congressional Trust 2008
Reception

Private Residence | Coral Gables, Florida

CLOSED PRESS

3:45 pm THE PRESIDENT meets with Cuban-American Community Leaders

TBA Location | Coral Gables, Florida

TBD PRESS

Miami Herald Naked Politics Blog coverage: President Bush heading to Miami to raise $$$

The White House says Bush — who has low popularity ratings but remains a formidable fundraiser — will attend a fundraiser at a private residence in Coral Gables benefitting the Congressional Trust 2008, a joint fund-raising operation that benefits both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee.

Following the fundraiser, Bush is to meet with Cuban-American community leaders, the White House says.

Please, someone, leak the address.

Miami-Dade Libraries Fail to Renew Domain Name

I knew that times were tough for the county, but domain names are not that expensive.

It seems, however, that the Miami-Dade Public Library has failed to renew its domain name. Right now if you cruise over to http://www.mdpls.org you get a message from Network Solutions saying “mdpls.org expired on 09/05/2008 and is pending renewal or deletion.”

So I called the main library and reported it. The front-line person seemed dubious, “It worked yesterday,” but agreed to report it to (unnamed) higher-ups.

Here’s hoping they get that online catalog back online soon. Heck, I’d gladly pay for it myself, if necessary (or possible).

By the way, MDPLS, if you are trying to save a buck you can get a much better deal on domain name registration by switching registrars.

Update (8pm): They’re back…

Life In Miami

Either we have an inordinate number of Maseratis and Lamborghinis on the road or they all have the same schedule I do.

This morning, doing the school run, I found myself behind a black Maserati with the license plate “BIG HIT”.

I guess that’s one explanation of how you pay for one…

(Lest I leave the wrong impression, I should perhaps explain that have no desire at all for a fancy sports car, or indeed any sports car; I can think of many things I’d rather do with obscene amounts of disposable income were the problem to arise. Now, if you were offering a pied-à-terre in Paris…)

Ten Reasons Why You Should Teach Here -- And Three Why You Shouldn't (v. 2.0)

I published a version of this essay last year.  At the request of the Chair of the Entry-Level Appointments Committee, to whom I can refuse nothing, I am updating and republishing it.

Ten Reasons Why You Should Teach Here — And Three Why You Shouldn't (v. 2.0)

1. Faculty

The best reason to come to U.M. is the faculty. At its best (which is to say, "outside of faculty meetings"), this is a faculty that believes ideas are serious things, but also is willing to play with them. You will see this most vividly at faculty seminars, especially those with external speakers. The faculty reads the paper in advance of the talk. It thinks about it. We don't let the presenter speak a long time — we want to have a discussion. There may be an element of performance in the questions and comments, but that usually just adds to the fun. Unlike some faculties I've heard about, we are not worshipers at the temple of sub-disciplinarity: faculty members feel comfortable commenting on papers far outside their own specialties, and they are usually right to do so as the distant perspective sometimes proves at least as valuable as the insider's. [Update: A recent visiting professor, John Flood, gave a good description of the experience of a Miami seminar in Giving Papers at Miami.]

While faculty vary in the extent to which they will seek you out — some are shy; others are busy — they will almost all be happy to see you if you seek them out. Very few will treat you like a junior colleague; for most, you will be part of the family from the start. And it's an interesting family, including some big names in international law, tax, law and society, law and identity, and several other subjects.

But don't take my word for it.  Here's what one of our more recent hires, Charlton Copeland, said a year ago about his initial impressions of UM Law:

The faculty stood out for me at the AALS recruiting conference as one of the most intellectually engaged faculties with which I met over the weekend. They actually were interested in my writing projects, and gave me the sense that they took them and me seriously. My time with the committee ran out too quickly for me. My feeling of intellectual comfort with the faculty was only enhanced during my visit to the campus later in November, but that was augmented by my delight that this would be a group with which I'd be comfortable beyond simply discussing scholarly work. They were a bit quirky, and in a way about which I am excited. I am excited about the diversity of the city of Miami as well, and the opportunities that I think it will provide me to think about my areas of research in new ways — ranging from race and the the law (where the Law School has long been at the forefront in American legal education) to comparative separation of powers issues in Latin America.

2. Institutional style & institutional support

UM wants productive faculty, and it believes in research. But it isn't about telling you what to do. My own story may be instructive: I was hired thinking that I would be writing mostly about administrative and constitutional law. In fact, however, within a couple of years I had turned into an Internet lawyer, and was writing primarily about computers, networks and the law. At no time did anyone here ever suggest that this was a problem. What mattered to people was that I was publishing.

Another way in which UM may differ from some law schools is that our faculty is routinely interdisciplinary and international. Many publish in non-legal journals — a fact which does not necessarily help either our publication or citation counts since the legal tabulators tend to focus only on law journals. Although we recognize that there may be some reputational costs, we are not prepared to tell people where they should publish. We just want it to be good.

There is no international ghetto at UM (the same is true of tax, a traditional faculty strength). As a matter of unwritten policy, everyone is expected to teach a basic course outside their specialty; the result is both that we can have more internationalists (and tax scholars), and that there's a much greater community of overlapping interests.

3. Library

The University of Miami enjoys a superb law library, the result of a decision more than two decades ago to make library acquisitions a financial priority. And if we don't have it, the library will borrow it for you, no questions asked. (As one former librarian put it, "we aim to provide law-firm-quality service". And in fact, it is almost as good as a top law firm, and the librarians are much nicer.)

The law library has extensive holdings in related disciplines, notably political science, and of course the university library is literally next door, and it also has ever-growing electronic access to journals — which can even be accessed from your home office. We have a particularly strong collection in Latin American and Caribbean law, but also strong holdings in European law. We are weak in India, China, and Russia, and no doubt several other countries with non-Romance alphabets, so if your research involves heavy use of materials from one of those countries, you should check to see if we have you covered. I also have a sense that our holdings for pre-1940 materials are not as strong generally as for things published in the last 70 years. But I am continually having pleasant surprises when I consult Baron, the online card catalog. They've done some impressive buying over the years — which is a good thing, as the next major law library is a long way away.

4. Students

We have smart students with upwardly mobile ambitions. Some come from wealthy families, but for many a law degree will be the highest level of education ever achieved in their families — a matter of pride for an extended clan you may have the good fortune to meet at graduation. Despite the lures of nearby South Beach, UM students are by and large a studious lot: their awareness that few silver platters await at graduation usually translates into a commendable work ethic. At least until the end-of-term fog settles in, I find that my students have done the reading, and often have something to say about it. There is a little shyness — some students don't want to ask questions for fear of looking silly; other students worry about being labeled a "gunner" — but ordinarily class discussion can be pretty lively. Although we have more men than women as students, it is often the case that the women lead the discussions and make the most substantive contributions. Classes tend to be fun (at least for the instructor). Visiting professors from other law schools consistently remark on the high quality of classroom performance here.

The UM student body has improved greatly in the past decade. Our best students would be at home in any law school. Our worst students would have been near the middle of the class 15 years ago. The only fly in the ointment is that despite their good college grades and creditable LSATs, a substantial fraction of the class comes to law school unable to write as well as they think or speak. Overcoming this obstacle remains one of our biggest challenges. That said, every year we have students who write publishable papers in classes and seminars. It's been a particular pleasure to see those pieces go into print along side those of full-time academics.

Some of our students will go on to be national leaders; a much larger number will play key roles in the State of Florida, as judges, politicians, and leading members of the bar. Some people have described alumni reunions as state judges' conventions, but this is slightly unfair. On the other hand, there's no question that both Florida as a place, and UM graduates as important players in that place, have been at the center of major wrangles with national impact ranging from the 2000 election to the Terri Schiavo affair.

Aspiring faculty sometimes worry that they will not find good research assistants outside a top ten law school. It's true that I don't hear stories about students writing papers that professors then publish under their own name — as I did when I was a law student at Yale. But if you are looking for a research assistant rather than a ghost writer, then my experience suggests this is not a serious problem if you teach a first-year class. As a teacher in the larger first year classes you can identify the students who are good and who fit your style before they get too caught up in other things. Some of them will get on law review, and will be too busy to work for you; some of those that don't will work downtown for higher pay than the law school can offer, but usually there's someone you will be happy to have who will be happy to have the job in their second or third year. I can't claim that every research assistant I've had has been stellar, but I can say that some of them were amazing — and that they are harder to find when I don't teach first years.

5. Research support

Research support exists to make it easier for you to write. The most important part of UM's research support is its excellent law library. But it doesn't stop there: In addition to the collection itself, we have a staff of helpful law librarians who seem happiest when given difficult research requests. There's a document delivery service which will get you any book or article you ask for and deliver it to your office within a day if it's on campus or a few days if it must be sent from far away. (One down side: you can gain weight from the loss of movement caused by having everything come to you.)

At conferences I sometimes hear stories about places where senior colleagues try to tell tenure-track faculty what to write about (or, worse, forbid certain topics or styles). We don't do that. If anything, we have erred in the other direction — tip-toeing around junior faculty sensibilities so much that we may have provided insufficient mentoring.  In an effort to do better in that department, the faculty now enjoys the services of a "director of faculty development" — yours truly as of a year ago — whose job it is to help colleagues (and especially pre-tenure colleagues) with their research and writing by identifying resources, serving as a sounding board, or just staying out of the way.

In addition, every faculty member has an office budget which allows you to hire a research assistant, books and supplies, and to travel to conferences. Each of these budgets is fairly generous, and the Associate Dean has discretionary funds to add to them up for good cause. In my experience, any cause I can bring myself to ask about has been treated as a good one.

6. The University

A generation ago it was "Suntan U". Today, under the (very) energetic leadership of Donna Shalala and an impressive suite of Deans, the University of Miami is joining the ranks of the leading research universities in the USA. For openers, President Shalala raised $1 billion for the University. YES, $1 BILLION. Now that it's in the bank, she's warming up for a new round of fund-raising. The lion's share of the first round went to the medical school, but we are told that the law school should be able to claim a bigger share of the next round -- and we'll need it because we've also been offered a chance to build a brand new building on a prime location on campus that is already zoned for construction (trust me, that matters).

More importantly, the past couple of decades have seen a transformation in the quality of both the students and the faculty in the arts and sciences. It's become hard for students to get in; and departments such as History, Psychology, Business, and Sociology have attracted faculties that include a wealth of potential collaborators, adding to existing strengths in Medicine and Communications. Both the law school and the University encourage inter-disciplinary collaboration. The law school has begun to take advantage of these resources (I, for example, am working with a team on health privacy issues that includes participants from both the Business School and the Med School), but there's much waiting for you that remains untapped.

7. Perks

The law school wants to support your research, and we try to put our money where our mouth is. Entry-level faculty can apply for a summer research grant before starting work in order to prepare their courses. We light-load you (usually only one course per semester) during your first year to give you time to find your feet. You'll get a summer grant as of right every summer until tenure to encourage you to write — after that you'll have to submit proposals, and make good on them too. And you're entitled to a semester's leave before tenure, more or less in the term of your choice, in order to help you write.

The law school is located on a very beautiful campus in the center of suburban Coral Gables, itself a very pleasant city with excellent restaurants. Rumor has it that in the old days the university administration spent more on landscaping than books; whatever the truth, there's no question that the campus is very nice to look at. It also sports a state-of-the-art gym that's about three minutes walk from the law school around our picturesque lake (crocodile optional). The campus sports other useful amenities, including a faculty club, a food court, and an on-campus daycare.

8. Miami

Miami is a cosmopolitan city. Part of its identity is as the defacto capitol of Latin America; part is as an artistic and musical center; and then there's the celebrity-and-tourist thing. It's an attractive place for young and old, and — if you take care to live in the right school districts, or have kids who qualify for the right magnet schools, or are ok with private schools — a pretty easy place for the middle-aged pater and mater familias. Like many sunbelt cities, Miami is more sprawling mosaic than urban core and periphery. Both urban and suburban living are within easy reach of the campus. Our politics are fascinating and complex, with much political power held by first and second generation immigrants from Cuba, and to a lesser degree Haiti, and Central America. The region now enjoys a lively cultural life, with a rich music and dance scene and some creditable small theater companies. If you prefer nature to culture, there's always the nearby Everglades as well as world-class coral reefs for diving just south of Miami.  And one of my colleagues sometimes totes a surfboard.

If your work involves domestic issues, you will find them in Miami, which is the city of the future in ways both good and bad. Along with our glitz you will find us on the cutting edge of today's and tomorrow's political and social issues: immigration, environmental (think "Everglades restoration"), medical (think "retirees"), and all the social questions that big cities produce.

Housing costs are plummeting, many other living costs were already low, and there is no state income tax.  Plus, the University has taken bold steps to help faculty find good housing by offering new hires a deal in which the university will subsidize part of your home purchase in exchange for a proportionate share in the equity when you sell, an offer that puts many very nice homes within reach.

9. Weather

Miami's weather is glorious for almost half the year; variable for another chunk, and miserable in the dog days of summer and early Fall. The good news is that much (but not all) of the miserable part comes when the law school is not in session, so you can escape if you choose. When the weather is nice, our central courtyard, the "bricks," becomes the social center of the community, a place where students and faculty mingle between classes. Even office rats like me end up looking healthier than the wan, pale, parka-clad figures I see huddling on the Boston subway. For those with outdoor ambitions, you can live on Miami Beach, or just enjoy the sea view from a balcony in a tower apartment in downtown Brickel.

10. The revolution is here

In last year's edition of this memo, I wrote that the "revolution is coming".   Well, it's here.

As a result of an unusually detailed and painstaking strategic planning exercise last year we are undertaking a radical transformation in the faculty, and perhaps the style, of University of Miami School of Law. We have at least six open jobs at present, with the likelihood of much more turnover as faculty retire (couples welcome!). The next three to five years stand a good chance of determining the future course of the school for a generation to come.   Hiring is going to be a big part of that transformation.

At present we have less than half a dozen faculty under 40, only a few more between 40 and 50, another dozen or so between 50 and 60; the single largest group — well over a dozen —  are over sixty, including some well over sixty. Our hiring is resolutely in compliance with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (of our last nine entry-level hires, two were very experienced lawyers well over 40), but given the overall composition of the entry-level market, it is likely that this age profile will change dramatically in the next few years.

But more than simply replacing faculty as they retire, we hope to do something even more dramatic. Under the leadership of Interim Dean Paul Verkuil, we've asked the Provost to authorize us to hire a very large number of additional faculty, over and above the half-dozen openings we have already. 

What this means for our new hires is that they will find themselves at the heart of their new community — and have a chance to lead it — much earlier in their careers than they might otherwise. The coming turnover and expansion in the faculty, coupled with this year's Dean search introduces an element of uncertainty about what we'll be like in the future that may not be to everyone's taste. Fortunately, the faculty engaged in a successful strategic planning exercise last year, which means that any new hires will be spared that chore at least.  But it also means that we're going to be growing and experimenting. 

Today, the law school enjoys a nearly unique chance to reinvent itself, and people with ideas and energy should find all the breathing room and opportunity they want.   We 'll create a host of new Centers and Institutes -- several are already in advanced stages of planning.  We're going to change some (but only some) of the ways we do teaching.  We're going to ramp up the scholarly enterpirse by having more talks, more conferences, more happenings.  And we're going to be open to your new ideas.

I hope that people reading this will come join us in building something wonderful.

***

All that is very well, but honesty compels me to say that there are also some reasons why not everyone may be happy here. Indeed, there are three main reasons why you should not teach here:

1. Weather

If skiing is your passion, and neither waterskiing nor snorkeling are substitutes, then Miami may make you sad. It's hot and very humid here from July until the heat breaks sometime in October or September. That means you can have up to three and half months when it's not much fun to go outside. Plus, occasionally we get weather with a name. But we don't get snowstorms, avalanches, wildfires, earthquakes, random tornadoes, floods, or mudslides. If you want immunity to natural disasters, move to Rhode Island.

2. Language

Many people in South Florida speak Spanish as their first (and often only) language. The campus is Anglo — although some of the bilingual staff and students will speak Spanish to each other — so this is not a work issue. But it is a life issue: you will hear lots of Spanish in the stores and on AM radio. If you are the sort of person who can't cope with foreign languages around you, there's a strong chance you will not be happy here. I don't speak Spanish, and I only found it a noticeable handicap for my first few weeks here, when I would get lost driving around and stop at a store for directions, then wait impatiently while they went to find the English-speaker. It's a non-issue today unless I happen to go bargain shopping for some exotic household good, and indeed contributes to Miami's cosmopolitan vibe.

3. Geography

It's flat here — no mountains (and houses have no basements). More seriously, it's also far from many of the legal nerve centers. If you're doing national work and you are having meetings related to it, odds are the meeting will neither be in Miami nor even within driving distance. That means air travel. And while we have great direct air connections to most of the world and the law school is generous with travel support, we do not have a working time machine. Given the post-9/11 security regime at airports, and the increasing vagaries of air travel generally, it is rarely possible to have a meeting in New York or Washington without spending the night out of town. That can mean having to reschedule a class (something we allow for good causes), which is a pain for you and even more of one for your students. It certainly means that doing national committee work is always a substantial time commitment. It is almost 500 miles to the state line, and then where are you? Somewhere between Tallahassee and Moultrie, Ga.

***

This year I am not on our entry-level hiring committee, but I am on our lateral hiring committee.  Whichever group you fall into, if you find the positives outweigh the negatives and have an interest in coming here, I'd be happy to try to answer any further questions you might have, either in comments to this entry or by private email.  Get in touch.

Ike (2): Spot Gas Shortages

On my way back from running an errand this afternoon, I stopped off at the local gas station that usually has the best prices to fill up my tank, as it was on the way home.

They were out of gas.

So was the place across the street.

However, a mile up the road they had plenty of gas, for four cents a gallon more.

Ike (1)

Ike seems to be drifting away from us. But you can’t be too careful. We’re open Monday. Here’s the latest official law school news:

The University’s Emergency Advisory Committee (“EAC”) met today at 3:00 P.M. to discuss the progress of Hurricane Ike. The University and the Law School will be open for all daytime classes and activities tomorrow, Monday, September 8th, 2008, and the current plan is to be open for all Monday evening classes and activities as well. However, the EAC will meet tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. and again at 12:30 p.m. to decide if any changes have to be made to the evening schedule. We will send an updated email and update the Law School’s website following each of these meetings. For those of you with evening classes and activities, please make sure to check your email and visit the website during the day tomorrow. No decisions have been made about Tuesday.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the U. closes on Tuesday, and it feels like an excess of caution on Wednesday.

It’s perfectly nice out at present…

I Don't Like Ike

Hurricane IKE — heading straight for us?

Forecaster Blake says, “One should not focus on the exact 4 and 5 day forecast positions because large uncertainties exist at those times.”

I still don’t like Ike.

Miami Votes

‘Rumpole’, he of the Justice Building Blog, describes his experiences voting in our primary/judges/etc election here in Miami today in DEMOCRACY IN ACTION,

Here is democracy in action- Miami style:

I parked and approached the polling site. There were several elderly women sitting on chairs surrounding the entrance. Upon seeing me, they immediately sprung into action, grabbed their walkers or canes and cards containing ads for various candidates and descended upon me.

Now I ve lived in Miami long enough to understand most Spanish, so I immediately recognized when an elderly woman loudly insulted the heritage and family members of Fidel Castro while thrusting a Rick Corona for Judge card into my hand. Another woman attempted to press a voting slate into my hand while complaining, I m pretty sure, of the Dolphins decision to release their kicker from last year and go with a rookie. She also doesn t like the 3-4 defense, which she made quite clear to me in Spanish while handing me a Harvey Ruvin for Clerk card.

Finally, as I almost entered the polling place I felt a distinct tug on the back of my Team USA Basketball shirt that I always wear when traveling. A woman thrust a slate of candidates into my hand and told me in no uncertain terms that I had to vote for them. My Spanish is not great, so I carefully inquired if I could vote for anyone else?
NO came the loud response. These were the people I must vote for. I waived over a polling marshal, whom I m pretty sure I recognized from the security screening at the REGJB. Therein ensued a loud argument in Creole and Spanish between the marshal and the woman.

I walked into the voting area adjusting my Team USA shirt and handed another elderly woman aren t their any retired men who work at polling stations? my election card and driver s license.

WHO ARE YOU ? she screamed at me in Spanish. Well I certainly wasn t about to reveal my identity as the blogger at this point, so I said my real NAME.
NO. WHAT ARE YOU? My spanish isn t great so I had not correctly understood the first question. It has been a long time since anyone ever seriously asked me that question and it caught me by surprise.

American? I ventured.

NO. WHAT ARE YOU? She screamed again. She was shouting in Spanish loud enough to actually wake up the other poll workers.

A human being? I mumbled, although some who read my blog might disagree. Really I just want to vote.

Another poll worker came over and explained I needed to tell her if I was a Republican or Democrat. The crisis being settled, I signed my NAME, received a ticket, a large folder and a special pen and was sent to the voting booth.

So much for electronic voting. We are now back to the days of SATs and the like. It s the good old fill in the oval with the special pen.

…

After you vote you have to take your ballot to an optical screening machine. The one I used was one of the newer ones, which I could tell because the tape holding it together was still sticky. A polling official came over and took my ballot and (I kid you not) carefully looked at every choice I made.

“What are you doing?” I said.

She replied in Spanish that she was checking to make sure I voted correctly.

“I don’t think you’re allowed to do that” I said. And she scowled at me like I was a relative of Fidel Castro. Another official came over and I inquired if voting in the United States Of America was by secret ballot.

“Que?” was the response. I did not know the phrase “secret ballot” in Spanish, so I had to wait several minutes for another supervisor to come over, wherein I explained the situation. The three of them huddled for a few minutes, casting glances at me that I had not seen since I had tried to board a plane earlier in the morning. Eventually the supervisor and returned and explained to me (and I have not made any of this up) that If I really wanted to, I had the right to have the ballot put through the electronic screener without it being reviewed.

I opted for that decision, and someone pulled a starter cord and the high tech optical screener coughed to life and I put my ballot through and voted.

I love this country. And I really love my town. Who could think of moving anywhere else, when this kind of entertainment is available for free?

I voted too. It wasn’t nearly as entertaining in my precinct.

Feh [Fay (6)]

OK, it’s grey out (although a little less than yesterday) and unusually windy (although not as much as last night around 2am). It rained a lot, but it’s not raining this morning. There’s more crud than usual on the street and sidewalks. But all the neighbors’ piles of cut branches are still there, so the wind can’t have been that bad.

I’m happy to have a bonus day at home, I can do some catch-up writing and tidying, but this was in 20/20 hindsight unnecessary. And they should do it again next time, because by the time you know it’s necessary it’s too late.

So I have two questions:

• Barometer is down to 1003, what’s with that?
• Is Fay dumping lots of water where we need it — in the Lake Okeechobee aquifer (and the other three that almost dried up)?

Answer those, and I can get on with worrying about Invest 94.

Fay (5)

We’re closed tomorrow too:

The University Crisis Decision Team met at 6:00 P.M. today and decided that the University and the Law School, including the Law Library, will remain closed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19th. We expect to be open for business as usual on Wednesday, August 19th. Our website has been updated and will be updated again if plans for Wednesday change. Additional information may also be obtained from the University’s website at http://www6.miami.edu/prepare/ or the University’s Hotline at (305) 284-5151.

Almost no rain at this moment, and the occasional tiny gap in the lower level of low and fast-moving clouds (but it looks like there are more clouds above). Wind at ground level is not great, but those clouds are really moving westwards, or maybe WNW.

Barometer down to 1005.

Fay (4)

Public schools are closed tomorrow. No word yet on the University.

Very wet out there. Very grey. Some wind. Barometer in my bedroom is down to 1006.

Fay (3) [updated]

We’re closing, according to this email I just got:

The University Crisis Decision Team met at 11:00 am today and decided that the University and the Law School will close as of noon today. All afternoon and evening classes are cancelled and the Law Library will close as well. The University Crisis Decision Team will meet at 6:00 PM today to determine whether or not we will be open tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19th. Our website will be updated as new information becomes available. We will also send another email after the meeting. Additional information may also be obtained from the University’s website at http://www6.miami.edu/prepare/ or the University’s Hotline at (305) 284-5151.

It’s very very grey out, and there’s a steady strong but not torrential rain. There’s a little wind now, although it’s been dead calm for much of the morning.

Update: Here’s the official UM announcement (the above was from the law school):

University of Miami Closes at 12 Noon Today

After closely monitoring the progress of Tropical Storm Fay and taking into consideration deteriorating weather conditions, the University of Miami will be closing at 12 noon today. The University’s campuses are safe and secure.

This closure applies to operations on all campuses, except for clinical activities at the medical school. All University of Miami hospitals are operating normally. Outpatient clinics will remain open until all scheduled patients have been cared for or contacted.

Residence Hall desks will remain open for check-in today and tomorrow for student move-in.

Details on other closures include:

* All libraries will close at 12 noon.
* The Wellness Center will close at 12 noon.
* Shuttle buses will stop running at 2 p.m
* The Canterbury Preschool will close at 2 p.m.
* The Bookstore will close at 12 noon.
* Retail food services will close at 1 p.m.
* Dining halls will serve lunch until 12:30 p.m. and dinner will be served from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

And now (1:40pm) it’s raining torrents. Judging by the trees, though, the wind isn’t strong yet.

Fay (2)

They closed the public schools, but (barring something strange, and an announcement at 8:30 tomorrow morning) the law school is not closing tomorrow.

I think both administrations are right. The storm track has shifted a tiny bit away from us, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty. We’re going to be ok in the morning, but there is an appreciable chance of road chaos in the afternoon, in the unlikely event Fay strengthens and zags. There’s often no way for parents to hear about early closures of the schools while at work, nor to get their kids. Law students on the other hand are far less numerous, and generally self-propelled.

We can close the place a lot faster than a public school if we need to. And we probably won’t need to. If anything Tuesday looks dicier than Monday, and that too is not looking so bad at present.

Folks in the Keys, or on the west coast of Florida seem to have more to worry about.

Meanwhile, on the home front, we’ve done almost all our laundry. But we’d have done than anyway.

Fay

WHEN FAY IS OVER WATER…IT APPEARS THAT ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR STRENGTHENING THROUGH 72 HR. THUS…THE INTENSITY WILL BE CONTROLLED BY LAND INTERACTION AND THE RESULTING IMPACTS ON THE STORM STRUCTURE. ALL GUIDANCE FORECASTS STRENGTHENING…AND THE INTENSITY FORECAST FOLLOWS SUIT IN BEST AGREEMENT WITH THE SHIPS MODEL. HOWEVER…THIS IS A LOW CONFIDENCE INTENSITY FORECAST. FAY COULD STRENGTHEN RAPIDLY IF IT BECOMES WELL ORGANIZED OVER WATER. ON THE OTHER HAND IT MIGHT NOT STRENGTHEN MUCH AT ALL IF LAND INTERACTION PREVENTS ORGANIZATION.

(from Tropical Storm Fay, Discussion Number 4)

They moved the track just enough east to make it more likely Miami gets roughed up a bit; we’re now at a 50% cumulative probability to get hit by at least tropical storm level winds, up from about a third last night. Tropical Storm level winds knock down trees, cause some flooding, but other than losing power (almost none of our region’s cables are buried, everyone is too cheap to pay the upfront cost, not to mention the higher maintenance), we tend to be fine. True hurricane winds do more, depending how strong they are, although the weakest technical hurricane isn’t that much worse that tropical storm.

So we face two known unknowns: the track — which is always uncertain, as hurricanes zig and zag in ways we don’t yet know how to predict (and a tiny difference is huge to the people underneath) — and, more unusually, great uncertainty about intensity. There’s often some, but not this much. I hear via the grapevine from the hurricane experts at RSMS that the envelope of possibilities stretches up to a category three hurricane, which would be a pretty nasty one.

We filled up the car; did some shopping last night. I got some gas to run the generator. Roads seem a little busier than usual, but that could have been true just with back-to-school (public schools start Monday, as does the Law School). The gas station had no queues. We have hurricane glass now, so my major per-hurricane activity of putting up metal shutters is a thing of the past.

We don’t have a giant ton of food, but we have enough to get by for several days. I feel like I should do more to prepare, but can’t think what.

Video of Coral Gables in 1950

Someone sent me a link to this kicky, kitschy, video of Coral Gables in 1950, from an ad promoting Chevrolets.

Many of the scenes are recognizable today, although Parrot Jungle has moved from its wonderful nearby location.

UM features at the beginning; campus attire has changed even more than the buildings, most of which are still around if not so spanking new any more.

'Eye on Miami' Dreams Big Dreams

Eye on Miami, increasingly the hot local government blog in Miami, offers us a big dream in, Humanity’s last innings:

In Miami, politicians like the green Mayor of Miami Manny Diaz have circled their wagons around a $3 billion plan to build more attractions, including a professional baseball stadium at terms that guarantee a financial windfall for the private owners of The Florida Marlins.

I wish our coral reef were a baseball stadium.

It really is amazing that with all the things Miami needs — paying for better schools, paying for cleaner water & waste disposal, that the big project being pushed by the Mayor is a new baseball stadium and a tunnel to the port. Unfortunately, the lawsuit seeking a referendum on the the $3billion project rushed through city government at the speed of lightening seems to be running out of steam. I would have liked to see at least a referendum on this project, which while it may have some good parts seems dubious over-all.

Miami Wakes Up to Political Normality (This is Good for Democrats)

David Rieff has a long piece in tomorrow’s NYT magazine about Cuban-American politics in Miami, provocatively titled, Will Little Havana Go Blue?.

The main conclusions track what those of us who live here see around us: Cuban-American politics are being changed by a generational shift (a rising generation that is American first and treats its hyphen much they way other ethnic groups do), and a political differences between recent immigrants and the revanchists who have been here 40-50 years. The recent escapees are much less willing to support policies that prevent them sending money to relatives left behind, and which limit their ability to visit their families still trapped in Cuba.

The result is a breakage of the monolithic support for the GOP and for its candidates. Particularly hurt are the Diaz-Balart brothers, who suffer from poor constituent services and a failure to bring home the kind of bacon that their storied predecessors — Claude Pepper, Dante Fascell — did.

Although Rieff doesn’t address this directly, it turns out that Joe Garcia’s vicious mockery of the Diaz-Balarts as a “one trick pony” may be right on the mark.

Rieff’s piece contains another bit of wisdom. Miami’s shift to normal politics away from unthinking equation of the GOP as the natural home for Cuban-Americans does not mean automatic victory for Democrats.

The lesson for local campaigners is obvious: Cuban-Americans being up for grabs means that they will need to be addressed in the same way as other swing constituencies: with appeals on the issues they care about (housing, jobs, health, social security, as well as Cuba) and — and this is probably key — turnout will rule. The community is no longer monolithic. Just like with many other communities that means whoever gets out their voters will win.

It’s going to be a turnout election down here.

FIU Law Dean Leonard Strickland Announces Resignation

At neighboring FIU, founding Dean Leonard Strickman has announced his resignation, effective a year from now. (This is the usual heads-up to allow a school to find a replacement.) Strickman’s tenure was noted by several achievements, notably recruiting a serious faculty and steering FIU law to accreditation in the shortest possible time.

Interestingly, the announcement appears in FIU Law’s online newspaper which appears to have a thriving comments section. One of the goals of UM’s draft strategic plan is to create an online space for student-faculty and student-student interaction. Whether ours is going to be purely student-run, or have a dose of administrative intervention remains to be determined as do many questions about focus, access and comments policy. Perhaps here UM can learn from FIU’s example.

Personally, whoever rides herd on it, I hope we create a forum that is as open as possible — while having some sort of mechanism to promote civility.

Miami Is a State of Mind

Local blogger BlenderLaw, finds that where you live does make a difference…, and that living in Miami starts to mess with one’s perceptions:

Visiting Asheville, NC, after living in Miami for a while, the ingles supermarkets signs looked to me as though they were advertising something English, or for English people (in Spanish) - and this happened the 4th and 5th and even 10th time of reading the signs. I’m not sure I would have read them that way 10 years ago.

Today's Discovery In Applied Informatics

I have found what I believe to be one of the last types of information for which search on the Internet remains utterly useless: finding where fireworks stands might located in the South Dade area.

I did discover that there’s a store in Key Largo, but that’s kinda far.

The big July 4 celebration in Coral Gables at the Biltmore has been canceled again — perhaps permanently. And the family doesn’t want one of those boxes they sell in Publix this year…

Best Evidence that the Miami Herald is Doomed (and How to Save It)

It was a good paper 15 years ago. And despite some subsequent slippage, there were real signs of life. I thought hiring DeFede was a great move a few years ago; firing him was super-stupid. Other than Fred Grimm and the soon-to-be departed Ana Menendez, who still shine, the local section, which used to be the best part, is a five-minute read. If the kids didn’t like the comics so much, I’m not sure I’d keep my subscription.

The Miami Herald has gotten pretty dull.

And the sign of the times that makes me think it’s not going to get better isn’t the 17% cut in staff detailed at How will staff cuts affect The Miami Herald?, although that’s sure to hurt, but rather this gem in the same article:

… a group of 15 distinguished Miami-Dade County leaders quietly have been meeting on their own over the past four months to make recommendations for what they think The Miami Herald should be.

Miami is a diverse, fragmented community with many media options, but because of its wide circulation, The Miami Herald can be the glue that holds us all together, one of the group s members, Florida International University President Mitch Maidique, explained.

Other members include United Way President Harv Mogul; UM trustee and Coral Gables attorney Dean Colson; Marvin O’Quinn, chief executive of Jackson Memorial Hospital; UM President Donna Shalala; Miami-Dade County School Superintendent Rudy Crew; attorney Aaron Podhurst; and Flagler Development Group President Adolfo Henriques.

The Herald didn’t pick this committee, but I am pretty sure they’ll get a very respectful listen. And the makup of this group exemplifies what’s wrong with the Herald. This is not a challenge-the-status-quo kind of a club. But if you want to sell papers, you have to give voice to the afflicted and afflict the powerful.

Want to fix the Herald? Start by putting the guys at Eye on Miami in charge of the Metro section. Or at least give them serious column inches and the power to assign a couple reporters.

President Shalala can be an iconoclast when she wants to be. I wish I thought there were any chance she’d recommend the Herald hire Genius of Despair and Gimleteye. It’s hard to see how anything less radical can save the paper.

Jessica Carvalho Morris Joins Amnesty International USA Board

Congratulations to Jessica Carvalho Morris, JD ‘03, who is the Director of UM Law’s International and Foreign Graduate Programs, for being elected to the National Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA.

Jessica has been the coordinator for the Miami Chapter of Amnesty since January 2004.

Rich Miami, Poor Miami

According to a recent survey Miami is 29th among the Worlds Richest Cities, by estimated personal net earnings in 2008. And it’s fourth among the large US cities on the list.

These calculations are based on wage figures, social security contributions and working hours in 2006 for fourteen widespread professions. Uniform criteria were used with regard to work experience, age, marital status etc. The wage index was weighted by the share of each occupation in overall employment and overall income and also by gender. The figures relate to pay net of taxes and social security contributions. In calculating the 2008 update of the wage index, USB not only took account of exchange rates and inflation, but also factored in that part of the economic growth was due to productivity improvements and was therefore passed on to employees in the form of higher pay.

Of course, Miami is also a leader in poverty. (#1 in a list of poorest American cities with population over 250,000 when ranked by median household income, 2006).

Assuming the validity of the methods — a big assumption — I’m guessing this means we have a low median wage, but a higher average wage due to the presence of a substantial group of some really really rich folks, and of course lots of rich people living off unearned income and/or comfortably retired.

We must have an amazing Gini coefficient.

Black Friday

The University of Miami Law School got pasted in the latest US News law school rankings: dropped 12 places. Our faculty reputation rank still puts UM in the top 50, but lots of the other metrics hurt.

Dean Lynch has sent out a note to the community about it. I’ll post the text if and when I get one; in the mean time all I have is this .gif version, which is what they sent us.

Update: .pdf version of Dean Lynch’s letter.

An Obituary With Bite (and Affection)

Most obituaries in the Miami Herald are kind of boring. Not this one, Herald librarian one of a kind, for Rose Klayman, a former Herald librarian, sometime Playboy bunny, and neighborhood fixture:

A hard-drinking, two-pack-a-day smoker who swore like a sailor, Rose Klayman died of respiratory failure.

…

She loved management conspiracy theories and gossip, and treasured her grudges.

In a bad mood — which was often — she could be mean as a snake. But she cared deeply about the colleagues she liked and turned herself inside out for them.

“She was a natural news researcher who loved the news, loved the work and loved helping reporters,” said one-time boss Elisabeth Donovan. “But it requires a calm demeanor, and Rose was never calm.”

She was, however, frequently kind, attentive and motherly, committing small acts of generosity like bringing a colleague designer jeans from a thrift shop and reminding another to keep his head up and “not let the bastards get you down.”

Former library colleague Ruthey Golden recalls that her friend “was always buying some homeless man or woman food. I know one cold day she came to work with no coat, crying. I said, ‘Rose, what’s the matter?’ She said, ‘I had to do it, Ruthey… . I just gave that woman laying in the street my coat. I feel bad for her.’ That’s just how Rose was.”

She loathed and loudly cursed the officious, and abusers of power.

And those are only some of the choice bits.

Search Plugins for Miami-Dade Public Library

Thanks to the kind work of librarysearch.org volunteer Johnathan Mayo, there’s now a browser search plugin for the Miami-Dade Public Library System catalog.

I’ve got to learn to write these. It looks so easy, but my first try bombed…

Anticlimax Dept.

The link in my RSS feed to the New York Times web site promised Burger Armageddon in Miami. Wow!

What a letdown: they’re having a contest for best burger. I imagined a Miami story. At least bribes. Maybe sex. Perhaps some gunplay. But no. Just meat — lots of meat — and cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles.

At least there’s lots of meat.

Is This Right?

I am not by any stretch of the imagination a local government lawyer, so someone who actually knows about this stuff please chime in…

Eye on Miami spotted this little piece of Democracy in action. Here’s the quoted text of Miami-Dade’s new ordinance:

“Ordinance relating to county boards, amending Section 2-11.88 to provide that any person who has a pending lawsuit against the county shall not be eligible to serve on a county board unless this requirement is waived by two-thirds vote of the members of the board of county commissioners, providing severability, inclusion in the code and an effective date.”

Is that Constitutional? I wouldn’t mind if it weren’t, but on what theory?

It appears that local Boards are usually appointed by the County Commission itself:

Sec. 2-11.38.1. Process of appointment.
(a) Vacancies occurring on any board shall be advertised in publications of general circulation. Twice a year advertisements shall appear setting forth a list of all County boards; any special qualifications necessary for membership on the board; and the County telephone number to call for additional information.

(b) Prior to its making appointments to County boards, the Board of County Commissioners shall be furnished a list setting forth the qualifications and demographic background of all new candidates for membership, along with a list of the qualifications and demographic backgrounds of the present members of the board to which an appointment is being made.

(Ord. No. 80-136, § 5, 12-16-80)

…so it’s possible that under a ‘greater power includes the lesser’ argument, since the Commission makes the appointment anyway, it can tie its own hands in this manner.

There’s presumably no US Constitutional right to equal consideration for Board membership, so I am dubious about an equal protection argument. And while there’s a certain sort of First Amendment feel to the issue, I don’t think lawsuits are protected speech — they’re protected as part of due process. Here, arguably, no one is being denied their right to sue the County, they’re just being forced to pay a political price. Is that a due process violation? Absent any research, I’m not sure.

Certainly from a standing point of view, the strongest case would be a sitting Board member who got thrown off a Board for bringing a lawsuit.

And what about the Florida Constitution? Again, I’m no expert, but I’m not sure I see an obvious hook here either…

This strikes me as a very pig-headed public policy, one designed to make life hard for local activists. But is it unconstitutional?

BankUnited Blacklists 191 Miami Condos

I don't pretend to understand the ins and outs of the Miami real estate market, and especially not the condo market (which seems largely divorced from the single-family housing market), but this looks like a big deal to me: via Eye On Miami, the news that BankUnited blacklists 191 condo projects.

Colbert Does Coral Gables

I’ve tried to avoid linking to shows subject to the writers’ strike, but I can’t resist pointing you to this very funny Colbert bit about my hometown, Coral Gables. And it’s not just funny, it’s about a genuine legal issue that I wrote about in There Goes the Neighborhood?.

(spotted via South Florida Daily Blog…something I have a feeling I may be writing often)

A Tiny Note From the Frontlines of Democracy

I had occasion to visit the Coral Gables public library at opening time this morning (a fruitless search for a lost cell phone which turned out to have never left the house).

The library is one of the local polling places that is open for early voting, and there were actual voters there (not me, I’m waiting for the last minute). There were also actual canvassers, four of them, stationed by the entrance to the library parking lot.

Keeping in mind that we have some ballot amendments as well as the two party primaries, what candidates or causes do you suppose that these four people were supporting? (Hint: there was more than one working together, but not all four were there for the same reason.)

Answer below.

Three guys were there with t-shirts and literature supporting a “YES” vote on Amendment One, which would limit property taxes. Confusingly, they asked me to vote to legalize slot machines in Miami-Dade county, which is actually “county question 3”. The fourth person, a literally little (5’?) old lady, had RUDY! flyers.

Why, I asked the three guys, given that there’s a war on, is this the issue that gets you excited? The said something about getting money for the county. And it was unfair that the Indians got the revenue and “we” didn’t. Didn’t say a word about the property tax amendment (which likely would starve local government and kill off important services).

I asked them if they were being paid to be there, and they denied it, but in a sufficiently shifty way that I had my doubts.

As for the nice lady with the RUDY! literature, her reason for being there was easier to grasp: “I think he’d be a great President!” (“Not like that Hillary woman” chimed in the ringleader of the Amendment One crowd.) I asked her how she could support someone who tried to postpone New York’s elections, but she didn’t know what I was talking about.

For the record, I was talking about this incident:

In late September Mr. Giuliani summoned Mr. Green, who was running in the Democratic primary, to his command post.

Mr. Giuliani, as Mr. Green recalled, was blunt: I want to remain in office three more months. I have a great team, I can lobby Washington. I’m being reasonable, he cautioned; my supporters want me to run for a new term.

Oh yes, he added, I need your answer tonight.

Mr. Green was taken aback. Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, was hours away. His closest advisers, many of whom were Jewish, would not pick up the phone.

“He made it clear he would invest his Churchillian popularity in hitting whomever did not go along with him,” Mr. Green said in an interview.

That many wanted the mayor to stay on is undeniable. But American electoral democracy rarely pauses. Abraham Lincoln held elections in 1864. Franklin D. Roosevelt stood for re-election as World War II raged.

“It was a very dangerous idea,” said Mr. Schwarz, the former corporation counsel. “The knight on the white horse is always indispensable in his own mind.”

Five days after the attacks, anonymous leaflets urged Mr. Giuliani to run. The governor had postponed the Sept. 11 primary. But when a mayoral aide inquired about pushing back other election dates, Mr. Pataki refused.

This is why I call Giuliani a Peronist and think of his as a person whose instincts are inimical to democracy. It’s interesting that his supporters don’t know about it. And he’s losing anyway.

It Rained Iguanas This Week

It says in Nostradamus: No Black man can be elected President until it rains Iguanas.

Well, while I was lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, it got real cold out (for Florida) and then it rained iguanas. Really:

When the temperature falls below a certain level, the large green lizards drop out of the trees and litter the ground.

…

It was raining iguanas at Bill Baggs Thursday morning.

Many of them aren’t hurt, though, just in a sort of suspended animation from the cold.

Coral Gables's Mysterious Nativity Scene

This elaborate nativity scene is prominently displayed in downtown Coral Gables near the corner of Ponce De Leon and Alhambra, on a little circle of land that might be public, or might be an amenity belonging to a nearby office building. It has no sign on it saying who erected it or how it got to be there.

Google Maps actually has a good image of it:

View Larger Map

I’ve never taught or litigated an Establishment Clause case, but I was under the impression that if this is public land, there has to be a sign on such a display explaining who paid for it, lest it appear to be a city-purchased religious display. Then again, it might be private land. Indeed, one of my colleagues tells me that there used to be a church where the building next to the circle now stands (the tall thin building in the image above), and speculates that when they sold the land they held on to this piece (or kept an easement) just for this purpose. Could be: but why no sign claiming credit?

MTV Picks UM Student as Florida Rep for National Vlogger Program

MTV has just set up a national corps of citizen-journalist vloggers: they’ve hired a young person from every state and DC to do weekly video reports covering politics in their state.

Florida’s correspondent is Anthony Wojtkowiak, a fourth-year student in UM’s Communications program,

I am a fourth year Video-Film Honors student in the School of Communication at the University of Miami. This year I will travel to Dominican Republic and Kenya to do journalistic reports about projects meant to help the poor. I was an intern and am now a consultant for Knight Foundation. I also edit a web site at University of Miami called mediaforchange.org. It has tools and ideas for how to get involved in activist causes, but is unfortunately down for repairs right now. I was a Resident Assistant in Pearson Residential College for three years and I really enjoy impacting people’s lives positively. I hope to be a postive role model for young people, and I hope to make a difference and find other people who will do the same.

Commissioners and Desperate Developers Do Dirty Deal

Despite the language, I’m with Critical Miami on the substance of this one:

Ladies and gentlemen, your county commission is out of its collective fucking mind: They just approved $347 million for a new Marlins stadium (more then double what the actual team will contribute!), overrode the UDB veto (to allow building past the development boundary, and note that Katy Sorenson, Rebeca Sosa, Carlos Gimenez, and Dennis Moss are the only ones that stood up against development), and generally passed the whole downtown overhaul that was proposed last year. I’m with them on the streetcar and on Museum park, but not much of anything else. Update: The budget for the 800-unit replacement to the Scott and Carver housing projects can suddenly accommodate only about 150 units.

Ungood. The money for the Marlins is especially stupid since there’s precious little evidence that the community actually wants to spend tax money on them. Or that they deserve it.

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz on the Presidential Election

Miami is blessed (?) with both a city government and a county government. So there is a Mayor of Miami-the-city and a different Mayor of Miami-Dade-the-County. I live in Coral Gables, just south of Miami-the-city, but inside Miami-Dade County.

All this is a warmup to introducing this video from Mayor TV, an initiative to get big-city Mayors to talk about the issues that they think the Presidential candidates should be addressing. One of the first to participate is Manny Diaz, Mayor of Miami-the-City.

Not being a constituent, I don’t follow Manny Diaz as closely as I do Carlos Alvarez, but I think he did a good job in this video. Apparently, this is characteristic, at least if this complaint from a local columnist in 2005 is to be believed:

Speaking as a columnist, I can say that Manny Diaz has been an absolute disaster as mayor of Miami. As Diaz’s first term in office draws to a close and he quietly raises funds for his re-election campaign — a campaign in which he has yet to draw an opponent — it’s hardly an exaggeration for reporters to deem his administration as having presided over the worst state of affairs at city hall in three decades. In other words, Miami is finally beginning to resemble a properly functioning municipality instead of a punch line.

For folks trying to live, work, and raise families here, this turnabout is nothing short of miraculous. Our local press corps, however, has grown accustomed to a steady diet of headline-grabbing corruption indictments, dire financial crises, and incidents of bizarre personal behavior better suited to a junior-high playground than an organ of government. And so the prospect of four more years of Manny Diaz is chilling. After all, chronicling the rise of competence never won anybody a Pulitzer.

Did I mention that Mayor Diaz has a JD from the University of Miami School of Law?

Dolphins Win a Game

Dolpnhins win a game. Will wonders never cease…..

Forcing Released Offenders to Live Under a Causeway: The Outrage Continues

Readers may recall an angry anguished posting of mine from March, How Can We Tolerate This? recounting policies of Miami-Dade county which forced five released sex offenders to live under a bridge because there was no available housing they were allowed to live in due to rules prohibiting sex offenders to live within 2500 feet of a school — any school. This was followed up with Bridge to Nowhere, reporting that the County had swung into action — and moved the people to a different outdoor location under the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

Well, eight months later, not only are they still there, their numbers have grown. Now instead of five we have about twenty who are forced to live rough because they county won’t let them live (almost) anywhere else.

The story was picked up by national media outlets, and for a few weeks the bridge was a source of widespread disbelief. Statements were made, resolutions were passed, letters were sent — but nothing changed. Since then, much to the relief of local politicians, no doubt, the situation seems to have quietly faded from public memory.

But the numbers kept growing. More than 30 men have been sent to live here in the intervening months. A few have since left — the majority of them arrested for minor violations of probation, two or three were able to move out, and two have disappeared. But most — as of press time, at least 20 — remain under the bridge, even though many have families willing to house them. Everyone agrees the situation under the Julia Tuttle has become untenable, but so far neither local politicians, nor the courts, nor the state legislature have been willing to do anything about it.

…

How much of Miami-Dade County, exactly, does the 2,500-foot ordinance cover? Pretty much all of it, according to a map produced by the county and distributed to police and newly released sex offenders. It shows schools in the county — private, charter, and public — each with a colored blob around it representing the 2,500-foot sex-offender no man’s land. The blobs cover the map; the only open patches are Miami International Airport, a few farm tracts in the Redland and near the Everglades, and, perhaps ironically, much of the well-to-do town of Pinecrest, which is protected from most sex offenders by property values instead of ordinances. (Sex offenders, like any other kind of felon, overwhelmingly tend to be poor.)

…

State and local leaders have taken turns abdicating responsibility for the problem of homeless sex offenders — that is, sex offenders made homeless by local law. Politicians have dumped it, whenever possible, back and forth onto one other like a game of hot potato.

…

There are other places sex offenders can live. On Krome Avenue in Northwest Miami-Dade — past the vacant lots, junkyards, and farms — sits a small, rundown trailer park, inhabited mostly by Mexican families, laborers, and agricultural workers. Three sex offenders are registered as living there. Far from any school, park, playground, or daycare center, the location might seem ideal. Except for one thing: Every day, around 3 p.m., a dozen women gather in front of the park to wait for a dusty yellow school bus to drop off their children. They scream and squirm their way to their mothers’ sides and walk away with them, hand in hand.

Asked if the 2,500-foot ordinance is pushing sex offenders into poor communities, [Ron] Book [chair of a county task force that is supposed to be considering the issue] pauses. “I don’t have to like it,” he says. “Look, I don’t have all the solutions.”

This is not just a Miami problem:

In July, Fort Lauderdale probation officers came up with six different bridges to which they planned to assign sex offenders on a rotational basis.

Let us be really clear on what is happening here: the state — in the form of probation officers — is ordering these released persons to live outdoors, in a squatters camp under the causeway, because there is no other place they can live. Failure to stay there is a probation violation which will have them returned to jail.

This must, by any sense of the law, be cruel and unusual punishment: people are not even allowed to live in the homes they previously inhabited. In some cases the causeway-bound have spouses and own homes, but as a result of this rule they cannot live together.

The county’s rule must be unconstitutional. But the wheels of justice grind slowly,

At least two challenges to Miami-Dade’s ordinance are already brewing. On November 7, the Public Defender’s Office filed a memo in support of a motion to declare the county ordinance unconstitutional and pre-empted by state law. The ACLU is looking into challenging the law as well.

Read the whole thing.

MiamiBeach411.Com Hosts A Dinner

Last night I had the good fortune to attend a Miami bloggers’ holiday party at the Tuscan Steakhouse, hosted by the urbane and charming Gus Moore of Miamibeach411.com.

Miami has a diverse and vibrant local blogging scene of which, given my more varied interests, I am only a vestigial part, so I appreciate very much being included along with local giants such as Miamibeach411.com (now a very numerous gang indeed) and Stuck on the Palmetto, which turns out to be a written by some smart adverting guys in their spare time, and not by moonlighting frustrated city planners as one might have imagined.

Other blogs represented included:
* Ipanemic
* Sex and the Beach
* Miami Rhapsody
* All Purpose Dark
* Dan Renzi (he’s apparently famous for something)
* Fanless (warning: will hurt your eyes)
* Blenderlaw
* Miami Condo Investments (two guys, suprisingly upbeat)
* Miami Vision Blogorama
* A Mom, A Blog and the Life In-Between (the same person also does a Coral Gables Blog and another I didn’t catch).
* South Beach Real Estate Blog
* Burnett’s Urban Etiquette
* Miami Fever’s Photos (a flicker stream)
* Restaurant Gal

No sign of Greener Miami though.

I am not good at circulating at crowded parties, and as a result I didn’t get to talk to several people there whose blogs I read and who I would have liked to meet. I’ll try to do better next time.

The group seemed more beach than suburban, and had a surprisingly large number of very recent transplants to Miami. And the food was good!

But it was a bit of a shock to be told by one local blogger about the secret plan to replace the dollar with the Amero. Who knew?

I had fun and look forward to the next one.

Miami Is Different

Lifehacker asks, How Do You Prepare Your Car for Driving in the Winter? [Ask The Readers].

It’s easy: at some point in December I stop putting up the sun shade on the dashboard.

Citizens Insurance and Other South Florida Public Bodies May Lose Big If State Fund Collapses

I’m not reading much about it in the local newspaper, but I gather from the Tallahassee Democrat that we here in South Florida are at risk of bearing a large share of the losses coming from the collapse and likely fire-sale liquidation of Florida’s Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP). And this even though the local county government pulled out its money before the fund temporarily (?) closed redemptions.

The LGIP is a 25-year-old fund that was designed to let local governments, especially smaller ones without investment advisers, to make some short-term returns on tax revenues. The money is supposed to be readily available for payments of bills and payroll, so it’s basically a money-market fund for local government. One that has fancy financial advisers, and still ended up holding some dodgy mortgage-backed securities and being long in Countrywide Financial Corp.

Calculated Risk is all over this story. The basic facts of the run on what amounts to a non-bank bank fund are at Bloomberg,