Tensions flared at Miami City hall on Thursday as an argument about community redevelopment pitted commissioners against each other.
The commission wants to extend the life of the OMNI Community Redevelopment Agency — or CRA — into 2047. The agency collects special taxes to address slum and blight in the OMNI area of downtown Miami.
Commissioner Miguel Gabela wants to expand the agency’s borders to include the Allapattah neighborhood. When agency leadership pushed back, he got angry.
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"Don’t tell us that we haven’t been on top of this. I’ve been very on top of this. But what you guys wanna do is you guys wanna go ahead and ram this through and then you get your way and then we go bye bye," Gabela said.
Before things boiled over, the commission voted to table the conversation, with chairwoman Christine King trying to keep the peace.
"We should start working it out," King said. "And that’s the message that I’m trying to send now. Work it out."
The CRA expansion will be discussed at the Oct. 10 city commission meeting.
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