A silver lining in Dade’s FTX arena agreement

I took office as MiamiDade County mayor in November 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without concerts or sporting events, our entertainment and sports venues were largely empty. Our basketball arena had been without a naming-rights deal for nearly a year, after the Miami Heat’s agreement with American Airlines expired in 2019. We needed to find a new partner, as the county owed the Heat more than $4 million. Due to COVID-19, venue sponsorship agreements were less attractive.

With limited options, we negotiated with FTX. We reviewed the company’s unaudited financial statements. The Office of the Inspector General examined FTX’s corporate and individual backgrounds, Sam Bankman-Fried and other shareholders. The Miami Heat and the NBA performed their own vetting processes. Together, we determined the FTX arena proposal offered financially advantageous terms and was a significant improvement over the prior agreement.

At the same time, county residents were facing a gun-violence epidemic exacerbated by the pandemic. Through the leadership of Commissioner Keon Hardemon, we dedicated the FTX sponsorship money to creating the Peace & Prosperity Plan, an investment in intervention and strategic enforcement to prevent crime, and create positive pathways for at-risk youth.

We intentionally structured the deal to receive more funding earlier on in the partnership. Over two years, the agreement provided $20 million in revenue at no cost to taxpayers. We are enormously proud of the plan’s outcomes.

We trust the justice system to probe the FTX bankruptcy and federal authorities to fully review FTX’s practices. Rest assured, Miami-Dade County hasn’t fallen for anything. Rather, we took advantage of an opportunity to meaningfully tackle gun violence and protect taxpayer funds.

– Daniella Levine Cava,

mayor, Miami-Dade County

SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

The true Spirit of Christmas is not found in reindeer, Santa Claus or tree decorations; those are the secular signs.

The true spirit is the birth of our Savior, Jesus

Christ, who was born to die for our sins that we might become holders of the greatest gift of all: eternal life.

– Jim Black, Fort Lauderdale

HOLIDAY FILMS

Christmas movies have often been characterized as simple-minded entertainment to appease the masses. I understand the significant bond a movie can create between the viewer and the story.

Every good holiday movie has a moral or theme. “The Wizard of Oz” was always broadcast around Christmas when I was young. “There’s no place like home” was its message. We watch the movie again and again because we want it to take us back “home” to that time.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” teaches that every life is worthwhile and fulfills a purpose.

“The Polar Express” is a prime example of using holiday magic to tell a story. This movie invites us back to our youth, when we were enraptured in anticipation on Christmas Eve. There was no doubt in our minds that magic was real.

Don’t think that we can’t believe in Christmas magic because we now are older.

If you have been lucky enough to find someone who truly loves you and have spent Christmas with that person, you know that love cannot be seen or touched.

The existence of true love has always been the real Christmas magic.

– Hayward Simpson,

Lake City

HOLIDAY CHEER

We were so happy to attend the Junior Orange Bowl Parade in Coral Gables on Dec. 11. The weather was perfect for families to enjoy it. The bands played and the beautiful horses pranced down Miracle Mile. I absolutely loved the South Miami Alumni band.

The college band was tremendous and Dunbar High School was great, too, though it was sad not to see any local high school bands in the parade.

Hats off to the folks who plan and those who sponsor the parade. Makes me smile every year.

– MaryEllin Santiago,

Coral Gables

DAYS GONE BY

With winter vacation under way, my mother would dress her daughters in pinafores and drive us downtown to the elegant Tea Room for lunch at Burdine’s, Miami’s essential department store.

The club sandwiches were posh, and we entrusted the gold-frilled toothpicks to the depths of our mother’s purse. Then came the Princess Desserts, with skirts of vanilla ice cream adorned with whipped cream ruffles and silver dragées. The little sculpted wax lady toppers were also handed off to mother’s purse.

Pine tree scents and carols wafted on the store’s air conditioning. Then, in the Nash Rambler, we cruised home in city traffic to the quieter lanes of Kendall where, at nightfall, the Goodyear Blimp eased through winter stars as its message lights winked and wished us, “Happy Holidays.”

Those holiday outings were our Paris and London. It doesn’t seem all that magic was 70 years ago.

– Miriam Rosen,

Miami

A TRUE SERVANT

This holiday season marks the final days of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s more than 50 years in government public health service. The American people should express our deep gratitude for his having been a true public servant.

As the retiring leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which he has led for almost 40 years, Fauci tirelessly devoted his career to furthering the public’s health and wellbeing.

He was the leading spokesperson for the federal government’s public outreach on COVID-19 communications. As such, he was a lightning rod for criticism and trolling by the far right, COVID-19 deniers and other crackpot conspiracy theorists. Fauci took it all bravely and stoically, even the death threats and the hate directed toward him and his family.

At almost 82, no one deserves a quiet and secure retirement more than Fauci.

It’s not a stretch to suggest he deserves a statue in his honor in front of the National Institutes of Health.

– Ken Derow, Swarthmore, PA