Brevard County commissioners mocked a journalist. Now, one official says they’re getting threats
The Brevard County Commission has drawn national ire since drafting a resolution mocking an editorial page journalist that passed unanimously last week — an action a commissioner now claims has prompted threats from political fanatics to their commission offices.
The document in question targeted Isadora Rangel, a former engagement editor and sole opinion writer at the Gannett-owned Florida Today newspaper, who has recently joined the Miami Herald’s Editorial Board.
What has further outraged critics, however, are the amendments from one commissioner, Bryan Lober, who sarcastically said he wanted to recognize Rangel for “selflessly remaining in this country” despite having a better economy and crime rate than her native country, Brazil.
“Whereas … Ms. Rangel deserves recognition for selflessly remaining in this country, not withstanding our nearly tenfold higher per capita GDP and approximately one-sixth the murder rate of the country from which she hails,” Lober’s amendment read.
The government action was the latest in a longstanding rivalry with Florida Today and Rangel, whose past opinion pieces have been critical of the all-Republican commission, Lober’s uncivil behavior online, and the lack of transparency with citizens through the coronavirus pandemic.
“Whereas, because of her eloquent prose, the circulation of FLORIDA TODAY dropped only 16 percent during her tenure,” the resolution read in part, quoting a report from the Florida Bulldog.
Commissioner John Tobia, who presented the resolution before the commission on Feb. 9, said they were “recognizing” Rangel’s time living and working on the Space Coast. When reached for comment about the intentions of the resolution, Tobia sent an email back saying, “I wish Isadora much success in her future endeavors at the Miami Herald.”
“We are rough on the newspaper, aren’t we?” said Commissioner Rita Pritchett, the commission’s chair, during last week’s meeting.
Tobia said he was getting the resolution framed.
“This one will be coming out of my own pocketbook; I am more than willing to pay the $26 for this frame,” he said.
The resolution has been widely covered by The Washington Post, The Hill and Newsweek. But Lober argues the facts have been misrepresented.
In an emailed statement to the Herald, Lober said that what prompted the resolution was years of “highly partisan treatment” from Florida Today, including claims that the attacks against him from the newspaper were malicious.
“As a result of the inaccurate and misleading reporting, shooting threats were called into multiple commission offices yesterday forcing their evacuation and costing taxpayers in law enforcement response,” Lober said in an email Tuesday, adding that he had proof to confirm his allegations.
When asked for evidence that showed a link between the threats and media attention from the resolution, Lober did not respond. Florida Today reported that the office of Commissioner Curt Smith was temporarily closed on Tuesday after receiving threats from a caller on Monday afternoon, who said there is “gonna be a civil war against your office” and that an unidentified group of people was “arming the minorities with AK-47s.”
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the threats.
Meanwhile, Rangel said she has been surprised by the attention the resolution has received. She first heard about it when a source in Brevard County sent her a text message with a video of the commission meeting.
“The venue through which it was done was unexpected because obviously I was not expecting a government meeting to be used to attack a private citizen,” Rangel said.
She also said she felt the comments about her native country of Brazil were inappropriate and motivated by anti-immigrant sentiment.
“It should be horrifying not because it was directed to me... It should be horrifying that in a country built by immigrants, we’re still using this rhetoric,” said Rangel, who is a U.S. permanent resident and has been in the U.S. since 2006. She has lived in Florida since 2008 and she graduated from Florida International University in 2010.
“My job was to write my opinion. I was doing my job as a columnist and a journalist,” Rangel said, adding that she brings the same drive to the Herald’s editorial board. “I was paid to do a job and I’m doing it.”
Nancy Ancrum, the Herald’s Editorial Board editor, said she felt the commissioners’ actions were “petty” and distracted from much larger issues in their county.
“It’s an unfortunately small and petty move by government officials who I’m sure have better things to do to serve their constituents,” Ancrum said. “We consider the Brevard County Commission’s dubious resolution high praise, which only affirms the strength that [Rangel] brings as a journalist and as an opinion writer to the
Miami Herald.”
Lober denies that his amendments were motivated by anti-immigrant beliefs, but rather that the statistics he cited are “all factually accurate and were offered simply to illustrate how well we have it here, not how undesirable the situation may be in Rangel’s home country.”
“Apparently patriotism is now conflated with xenophobia,” he said. “It was entirely facetious yet wholly innocuous. At worst, it amounted to a roast.”
Seventeen national developers have submitted formal letters of interest in building new office space near Lincoln Road — proof that Miami Beach’s lagging commercial district is on the rise.
Despite a slowdown in the office market as many companies observe COVID-19 protocols, an October call by the City of Miami Beach drew submissions from some of South Florida’s most successful developers, along with highprofile out-of-towners.
“[These developers] believe that people will be going back to the office at some point in the future,” said Commissioner Ricky Arriola. “These opportunities are going to cater to a more local market for people who want to live, work and play all in the same neighborhood.”
In play are three cityowned lots between Lincoln Road and 17th Street, steps away from Regal Cinemas South Beach, Colony Theatre and City Hall. All currently are used for open parking. The city is seeking a single development team that would create more than 380,000 square feet of office space with a 99-year lease; the developer would pay construction costs.
“Instead of building another hotel or more retail space, this would be Class A office space,” said Arriola. “One would imagine a major hedge fund, production studio, media company or law firm [opening its offices there]. That’s local jobs being created and those companies will bring clientele that will fill our hotels. Those employees will shop at Lincoln Road. Hopefully, a large portion of those people will live in
Miami Beach and no longer have to commute into Miami Beach.”
Companies that expressed interest include locally based Adler Group, Comras Company, COO Premium Development, Russell Galbut of Crescent Heights, David Mancini & Sons, Design District Management, East End Capital, Integra Investments (in partnership with Starwood Capital), Peebles Corporation, Related Group, 13th Floor Investments and Tricera Capital (partnering with Mangrove Real Estate and Sasaki).
Firms based elsewhere include Andalex Capital of New York; Northwood Investors (offices in London and the U.S.), Oak Capital Group of Los Angeles, R&B Realty Group of New York and Sterling Bay of Chicago.
Developers point to recent purchases of multimillion-dollar homes by hedge fund and tech magnates as an encouraging sign.
“The heads of all these companies are buying homes on the Venetian Islands, Star Island and North Bay Road. They want to be close to where they are working, and their employees are living,” said Related Group President Jon-Paul Perez in a November interview with the Herald. His company is building a Class A office building on Terminal Island at the MacArthur Causeway entrance to Miami Beach and has expressed interest in the Lincoln Road sites.
The city has not yet issued a request for proposals. The Miami Beach Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee is set to meet Friday to decide whether it will submit a formal recommendation to the Miami Beach Commission to seek formal proposals. The commission is set to meet
March 17.
Michael Comras, president and CEO of The Comras Company, hopes the city will proceed with the project. He previously developed two Class A office spaces near Lincoln Road and has expressed formal interest in the new project in partnership with Terra developer David Martin.
“When you look at Miami Beach and how neighborhoods evolve and ask we diversify our economic base, office is a great part of that,” Comras said.
“We need to strengthen our economic base . ... The city is being forward-thinking, and when things align and you get a response from 17 different developers, that means there’s a worthwhile level of interest.”
Even prior to the pandemic, Lincoln Road struggled to keep tenants as rents soared; since then, retailers including Adidas Y-3 Miami Beach, Books & Books and restaurant Balans have abandoned the historic shopping strip, though a number of small businesses signed on late last year.
New offices would help sustain retailers and restaurants along Lincoln Road and across Miami Beach, said Lyle Stern, vice president of the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District and president of retail leasing and consulting company Koniver Stern Group.
“The folks that are going to occupy these buildings are going to go out to shop,” Stern said. “When we start peeling back the onion, it creates everything from [adding to the] city tax base to increasing home values here. It will flood more money onto the streets.”
COVID-19 left Miami Beach on life support when the number of tourists and hotel occupancy rates hit record lows countywide. While tourism has begun to rebound, county occupancy rates have risen above 60%.
Last fall, the Pentagon’s most senior leaders agreed that two top generals should be promoted to elite, four-star commands.
For then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the tricky part was that both of the accomplished officers were women. In 2020 America under President Donald Trump, the two Pentagon leaders feared that any candidates other than white men for jobs mostly held by white men might run into turmoil once their nominations got to the White House.
Esper and Milley worried that if they even raised their names — Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost of the Air Force and Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson of the Army — the Trump White House would replace them with their own candidates before leaving office.
So the Pentagon officials held back their recommendations until after the November elections, betting that if Joe Biden won, he and his aides would be more supportive of the Pentagon picks than
Trump, who had feuded with Esper and has a history of disparaging women. They stuck to the plan even after Trump fired Esper six days after the election.
“They were chosen because they were the best officers for the jobs, and I didn’t want their promotions derailed because someone in the Trump White House saw that I recommended them or thought DOD was playing politics,” Esper said in an interview, referring to the Department of Defense.
In the next few weeks, Esper’s successor, Lloyd Austin, and Milley are expected to send the delayed recommendations to the White House, where officials are expected to endorse the nominations and formally submit them to the Senate for approval.
The story of the two officers’ unusual path to promotion — Van Ovost to head Transportation Command, which oversees the military’s global transportation network; and Richardson to head Southern Command, which oversees military activities in Latin America — underscores the unorthodox steps that senior officials took to shield the Defense Department during the final weeks of the Trump administration.