The Power Issue

A few years back an online discount brokerage firm ran a commercial depicting a pair of disorganized entrepreneurs, during what we assume was the late-1990s dot-com boom, seeking a hefty investment from a corporation. When they mention that their fledgling company has a Web site, that’s all the corporate big wigs need to hear to back the operation. Then the following message is flashed: “Times have changed. So have we.”

That pretty much describes the annual SunPost 50. Past issues were filled with an assortment of politicians, activists, artists and other characters who captured the energy of a thriving economy.

Those people are still here, but thanks to the trickle-down effect of a real estate market slowdown (relax, people, we said slowdown, not death – far from it; South Florida is still a very desirable place to live and work), high real estate tax assessments, property insurance bills and an overall market decline nationally, being a player in this day and age requires more than just a good business plan. You have to be a scrapper. Dare we say it, a warrior.

That goes for everyone on this list. No one profiled here sat back, let circumstance or talent carry them blithely along to, voilà, make an impact. Nope, these folks have campaigned, toiled, dreamed, investigated, strategized and sometimes even schemed to make their mark on Miami-Dade County and beyond.

This is not just an honor roll. It is a list of those, local or not, who have shaped recent events in South Florida — the good, the bad and the ugly. (Most people are usually a mix of all three.) We’re sure we left out plenty of influential individuals and we’ll be counting on you to let us know who they are. Send your comments to letters@miamisunpost.com.

Credits

Introduction by Erik Bojnansky

Compiled and written by Robin Shear, Erik Bojnansky, Rebecca Wakefield, Ryan Brown, Randy Abraham, Stu Creslipsle, John Hood, Dan Hudak, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers, Gillian Boyce, Tiffany Rainey, Andrew Stark

Copy editing and proofing by Mary Louise English, Robin Shear, Kenneth Rivadeneira, Martha Sternberg

Art production by Simone Fong, Michael Menchero, Lily Rodriguez

Sales by Andrew Stark, Marc Kulwin, Jamie Kaufman, Gus Moris, Jeannette Stark, Jason Albarano, Melissa Berger, Ellen Keates, Svetlana Smith, Beki Stark, Antwon Tomas, Valda Wilchcombe

Cover Art By Christian Meesey/Meesimo.com

Marco Rubio

Tax Man

It seems like only yesterday that leaders of cities and counties throughout the state were whistling a happy tune. Sure, there were still municipalities with budget crunches here and there. But for the most part city and county officials were living large, so to speak, as ever-increasing property tax values allowed them to propose ambitious plans without having to directly increase property tax rates. Only problem is those property value assessments, coupled with the hikes in insurance, threatened to tax many a property owner out of the Sunshine State and encouraged those who owned once-affordable rental buildings to convert them to go condo.

Then overnight, something happened. City and county leaders began to put plans on hold and made phone calls to their favorite Tallahassee lobbyists as their world threatened to change forever. A sense of panic far and wide arrived.

And it was all started by a former vice mayor of West Miami who was born in 1971.

When Marco Rubio, a state representative since 2000, was named Speaker of the House in 2006, he was among the youngest legislators to hold such a position. Rubio launched head-on into an ambitious plan to bring about tax relief. First he would roll back taxable property values to 2001 levels. Then he would place on the ballot a constitutional amendment that would eliminate property taxation on primary residential homeowners, replacing it instead with a sales tax increase of 2.5 cents per dollar statewide.

His proposal got noticed. Call it the lobbyist employment act. The backlash against the plan was fierce enough to create a slew of alternative proposals that makes Rubio’s constitutional amendment idea less likely. However, Rubio did hit a nerve. While some voters didn’t quite trust his plans, polls revealed that Florida residents did feel that taxation by sales tax was fairer than by property tax. Rubio also showed his fellow legislators the need for cuts when he bused several hundred residents to Tallahassee to demand lower taxes.

As of this writing, Rubio’s tax plan was watered down — but still calls for at least a $4.4-billion rollback that would also, incidentally, eliminate property taxes meant for schools (ouch) while increasing the sales tax by 1 percent. The plan was about to do battle with a more moderate Senate Republican plan. And, oh, the idea of eliminating property taxes for primary homes in exchange for yet another 1.5 percent increase in sales taxes was still being proposed for voter approval. Maybe after the SunPost 50 deadline, Rubio’s ideas will emerge victorious. Or maybe they won’t. Either way, Rubio has made an impact.

Jorge Perez

Dogged

As the real estate market continues to fluctuate, many developers have gone into a state of self-imposed hibernation as they await better times.

And then there is Jorge Perez, CEO of the Related Group, who is going full speed ahead in his quest to build condominiums where he can, when he can — be they on top of a Cirque du Soleil performance center or an old shopping center or on land beside a hospital. And it’s because of that doggedness that Perez’s company has constructed more than 55,000 condo units and apartments in the state and, according to a June 3, 2006 Miami Herald business brief, has accumulated assets of more than $10.7 billion. As such, Perez is admired and coddled by developers, politicians, publicists, glossy magazines, nightlife writers, lobbyists and, most of all, real estate agents and Realtors who sell and resell the 55,000-plus apartments and condos Perez has constructed. Builder magazine proclaimed Perez the No. 1 multifamily home builder in the nation. And Perez’s stature has allowed him to take on Donald “The Donald” Trump as an apprentice — er — we mean, as a partner in the Related Group’s quest to build high-rises in Sunny Isles Beach and Hollywood Beach. And the Related doesn’t just do luxury condos; it also has an “attainable housing division” tasked with building affordable and workforce housing.

Perez, though, isn’t universally loved. Controlled-development advocates and influential supporters of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens have formed an alliance to crush the zoning variances Perez needs to build three high-rises on land now owned by Mercy Hospital. Perez has argued that Grove Bay will be good for the economy and the land sale a financial boon to the nonprofit hospital. Coconut Grovites fear this will pave the way for more tall towers in their otherwise low-zoned village. Vizcayans hate the fact that it would ruin the urban park’s serene view. The contest between influential Vizcayans and the all-powerful Perez was enough to give Miami Commission Chairman Joe Sanchez a near brain hemorrhage. After arguing until midnight, the City Commission opted to delay the zoning variance until April 26, the day this issue hits the streets. Will Perez emerge triumphant as he did some years back when he won the height variances he needed to construct a high-rise atop Loehmann’s Plaza in Aventura? Or will he be forced to back out, as he was when opposition started to mount against his idea of building a Cirque du Soleil facility in Miami Beach in exchange for $100 million in public money? Time will tell, but Perez will fight for his right to build and won’t go quietly into that good night.

Max Rameau

The Revolutionary

Max Rameau is a serious fellow, an activist who has fought various injustices in Miami for the past decade and more. He played a role in the effort to enact the Civilian Investigative Panel that oversees the Miami Police Department, and was an early opponent of the Hope VI project that wiped out Scott Homes in Liberty City without replacing them with promised new housing.

The reason you know his name is that he is arguably the city’s most successful affordable housing developer. On Oct. 23, 2006, Rameau and a band of supporters launched a daring maneuver in the never-ending war between activists and local government on the housing issue.

Citing the 1998 Pottinger settlement, in which a judge ruled that the city of Miami could not arrest the homeless engaged in “life sustaining conduct” on public land, they took over a couple of county and city-owned plots on the corner of Northwest 62nd Street and 17th Avenue. They erected tiny shacks made of wooden pallets, plus modest kitchen and shower facilities.

It was dubbed Shantytown, but eventually came to be called Umoja, a Swahili word for unity. National press attention was garnered and notables such as Al Sharpton passed through, while the city of Miami schemed, ultimately unsuccessfully, to shut the place down.

Six months later, Umoja is not only still standing, it’s actually flourishing — to the degree that a village of shacks run by a loose confederacy of chaotic individuals used to living on the street can flourish. Rameau, Haitian-born and D.C.-educated, still calmly oversees Umoja, but plans bigger things. He believes the premise of people taking back their land from an unresponsive government is one that can and should be expanded. We can’t wait to see what he’ll do next.

Teri D’Amico

MiMo Mayday

MiMo.

Today you find the term everywhere: in travel brochures marketing Miami across the country, in architectural articles in various newspapers and magazines, in city documents, in real estate Web sites touting the latest condo conversion and even in furniture stores.

But back in 1998, when interior designer Teri D’Amico first coined the phrase “Miami Modern,” MiMo was just a catchy cry for help. Back then most of the Miami Design Preservation League’s members were focused on protecting pre-World War II Art Deco structures from age and over-enthusiastic developers. And developers — they laughed at the idea that something constructed in 1947 or 1955 was historically significant. D’Amico, Randall Robinson (a former director of MDPL who would later author books about MiMo) and various other preservationists held a “sparkler rally” in front of the Bel Aire in North Beach only to see the building knocked down just days later. It was followed by the fall of another post-World War II structure. And then another.

But within months, other preservationists, including MDPL, began to notice the features D’Amico often pointed out. Developers, starting with Eric Sheppard (who would include the original 1950s Carillon Hotel in his Canyon Ranch project), would begin to appreciate unique MiMo design characteristics. Still other developers would appreciate the tax-credit potential. Architects began to stick up for the design (especially those renowned for creating those same designs). Before long a historic MiMo-inspired district would be created along much of Collins Avenue within Miami Beach’s city limits.

The movement would come too late for Sunny Isles Beach. That city’s MiMo motels would be gleefully annihilated by Mayor Dave Samson’s “Aventura Beach”-inspired boom and replaced with giant high-rises, many of which would be adorned with the name “Trump.” Sadly, D’Amico and her allies wanted to pick their battles and focus on Miami Beach.

Fortunately, that focus soon expanded. She helped lead the crusade to create a historic district in Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard corridor to protect the uniquely designed motels there. Incidentally, her company, DADA — D’Amico Design Associates — has been retained to create an interior MiMo look for the Vagabond Motel on Biscayne Boulevard.

Now D’Amico and the MiMo Coalition, a group she co-founded, are out to convince a reluctant Bay Harbor Islands Town Council of the need to create a historic district to protect 1950s-era buildings on East Island.

Saul Gross

Playing It Safe

In poker, sometimes you got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em or know when to go all-in.

Miami Beach Commissioner Saul Gross, after throwing a few bets into the pot, opted to fold and not make the plunge to go for the 2008 mayor’s race.

Not because he wouldn’t have won — he was already garnering a wide range of support from Miami Beach residents. He just didn’t have to. Elected in 2001, Gross, unlike mayoral contenders Matti Bower and Simon Cruz, is not being termed-out. He still has two-and-a-half years left on the City Commission. And when the dust settles this November, Gross will find himself the eldest statesman on the dais.

We’re not talking solely about his years on the Miami Beach City Commission. Assuming Cruz or Bower is elected mayor, they will have Gross beat by 10 or eight years, respectively. But that is not counting his many, many years chairing the Design Review Board prior to his ’01 election, or his many years as a pioneer developer in then-economically depressed South Beach in the late 1980s. When Gross declared his City Commission candidacy six years ago, he was already the front-runner. Gross would go on to beat a crowded race of challengers without a runoff. When it came time for Gross to run for re-election four years later, no one dared challenge him and he won his second term by default.

So now as city commissioners jockey for position for a future political career after term-limits, Gross, a longtime historic preservationist, has embarked on a path to not only protect old structures from the wrecking ball, but to protect the city from fiscal ill-health and city residents from being taxed out of existence. Miami Beach could use such a consistent voice in such matters and a mayor’s race — well, that would be a distraction.

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk

Master Planner

Love her or hate her, architect and urban planning impresario Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk has Miami by the proverbial cojones.

Thus began Plater-Zyberk’s entry in the SunPost’s Power Women issue. And as Miami 21, her Mayor Manny Diaz-inspired restructuring of the Magic City’s zoning code, races to the finish line, that sentence is fitting as an opening line for her “50” entry, for not only does she have Miami by the cojones, but now she’s squeezing as well.

Even without being in charge of reshaping land use in the largest municipality in the largest county in the Sunshine State and establishing its zoning code until it’s swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean, Plater-Zyberk is quite the influential figure. She is the current dean of the University of Miami’s School of Architecture and the founder of the Congress for New Urbanism, a movement that basically seeks to bring zoning order to an otherwise cruel and chaotic world. Using that technique, Plater-Zyberk and her firm of Duany Plater-Zyberk, often just known as DPZ, have created municipalities and communities from scratch. DPZ designed Seaside in Northwest Florida, which was so urban-perfect that it was hailed by Time magazine and served as the backdrop of the idealized, artificial television world for the movie The Truman Show. She was also part of Craig Robins’ dream team in creating his urbanistic condo community known as Aqua in North Beach. And Plater-Zyberk’s planning theories are being used in cities in North America, Europe and Asia, according to her bio.

No wonder Diaz tapped her to transform Miami’s future land use. Her draft for the “Eastern Quadrant” of the city seeks to bring about a comparatively easy-to-understand zoning code for Miami — one that encourages alternative modes of transportation, green open spaces and affordable housing through transfer of development rights and other ways. Sounds wonderful, but it’s got a lot of homeowners frightened and property owners frustrated. Pleas for a time-out are so far being ignored. DPZ and city planners are ready to put Miami 21 to bed by June. Whether they will be successful in that goal is for the future to tell. But Plater-Zyberk’s creation is, right now, inspiring a lot of emotion.

Christopher R. Mazzella

The Investigator

Chris Mazzella and his band of investigators at the Office of the Inspector General aren’t popular in certain circles of Miami-Dade County government — those circles being the corrupt underbelly that has been allowed to fester for years.

It’s the job of the OIG to investigate waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement within county government and also to review county operations. They’ve had their hands full. In recent years OIG investigators have uncovered fraud and theft rings at Miami International Airport, investigated faulty iVotronic touch-screen voting machines, busted employees for cheating on their hours and found evidence that led to the arrest of dozens of individuals.

In charge of it all is former FBI man Mazzella who, prior to his retirement after 33 years of service, oversaw cases involving public corruption and organized crime. He was hired by Miami-Dade County in 1998, just a year after the OIG was created and “against a background of massive corruption,” as Mazzella put it to the Times-Picayune, in an article about New Orleans creating an office of the inspector general. In the first year, the Miami-Dade OIG, with a budget of only $200,000, uncovered $10 million in fraud. Now the OIG has a budget of $4 million to pay for his army of investigators with law enforcement, accounting, auditing and legal backgrounds. With such a team the OIG recovered $14 million last year.

This year Mazzella has been very, very, very busy. Evidence gathered by the OIG led to the arrest of those participating in a foreclosure fraud scheme that sought to victimize county homeowners. The OIG also uncovered nepotism committed by Miami-Dade Transit Director Roosevelt Bradley, found widespread cheating by county employees of its tuition refund program, and discovered that a Water and Sewer Department employee allegedly embezzled $1 million in public money.

And then there are the continuing scandals surrounding the Miami-Dade Housing Agency. An OIG investigation led to the arrest of Raul Masvidal for spending $287,000 of county funds earmarked to build an office for the MDHA, but which, instead, bought Masvidal two sculptures, one of them a watermelon named “Mars.” The OIG also gathered evidence suggesting that Reynaldo Diaz obtained $940,000 to build affordable housing on land that he, well, didn’t own.

Best part, the OIG isn’t slowing down in finding fraud and mismanagement within the county’s affordable housing program. In fact, Mazzella told the media his net is widening to other county departments. That means more people are going to be taken away in handcuffs, a phenomenon that can only help the county’s operations. Oh happy days! Tee-hee!

Nancy Liebman

Ever Present

Unlike politicians from Miami or Hialeah, Miami Beach politicos tend to disappear from time to time. David Pearlson? Sold his hotels to a real estate developer who later went bankrupt. Sy Eisenberg? Can be spotted time to time near David’s Café but pretty much has kept out of the newspapers. Susan Gottlieb? Relocated to Palm Beach for a while but got elected mayor of Aventura a couple of years ago. OK, Gottlieb is a bad example.

Anyway, our point is that Nancy Liebman never went missing. The executive director of the Miami Design Preservation League in the late 1980s, Liebman was elected Miami Beach commissioner in 1993. Liebman ran for Miami Beach mayor in 2001 against a crowded field that included then-fellow Commissioner David Dermer and former state Rep. Elaine Bloom. She lost.

But that’s OK, Liebman was just getting started. She became the president of the Urban Environment League and, as such, has done much to affect policy in the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County as well. As president of the UEL, Liebman fought attempts to expand the Urban Development Boundary further west, which would have paved the way for more intensive development in sensitive agricultural areas and wetlands. Liebman has also insisted that her organization give input on the future direction of Bicentennial Park and proved willing to take on then-City Manager Joe Arriola when he tried to shut her out of the process. She also continued to dog Arriola when he allowed his son to use his house for an election campaign fundraiser for Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez. She sent out a mass e-mail stating that the fundraiser was “an outrageous ethics violation.”

“Nancy — quit your crying. I had the fundraiser for Angel. I had it at my father’s house, just like I have a Super Bowl party at his house. It is not an ethics violation,” Ricky Arriola replied via e-mail.

Long story short: Arriola is gone and Liebman is still here. At a Miami 21 meeting, Liebman could be seen sitting with city planners and preservationists Teri D’Amico of Bay Harbor Islands and Don and Nina Worth of Miami Beach. They sought to provide economic incentives for property and business owners in the newly minted Miami Modern historic district along part of Biscayne Boulevard, as well as a special zoning designation within the newly rewritten code.

And as for Miami Beach, well she hasn’t disappeared there either. For better or worse, you won’t see a home improvement store and gourmet grocery in the Sunset Harbor area of South Beach thanks in part to Liebman. A Venetian Island resident, she helped transform the debate from a property owner versus Sunset Harbor condo owners debate into a larger battle when she encouraged other homeowners associations to entry the fray against a potential Home Depot South Beach. The constant challenges and a development slowdown made the Fellig brothers, who own the land there, raise a white flag — for now. Liebman is also chair of Mayor David Dermer’s blue ribbon committee to create a Cultural Arts Neighborhood District Overlay that intends to make it possible for artists and “cultural workers” to continue to work and reside in South Beach despite ever-increasing cost of living increases.

Donna Shalala

The Hurricane

When George W. Bush was confronted with reports of dismal conditions at Walter Reed Veterans Hospital he did what any president leading an unpopular war would do — assign two respected statesmen from two different political parties to investigate. One was Bob Dole, former Republican senator from Kansas, and World War II veteran. The other was Donna Shalala, former secretary of Health and Human Services under Democratic President Bill Clinton and, incidentally, the president of University of Miami.

But her appointment as leader of a panel empowered to find out why wounded veterans of the Iraq War were given poor care at the hospital is not the main reason Shalala made the 50 list for the second year in a row. The UM president has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan for her college — so ambitious that observers call it the biggest project Coral Gables has ever faced. With such a big expansion around the corner, you’d think there would be much controversy about the idea, right? Wrong! Mayor Donald Slesnick’s challengers criticized his incumbent honor for not cooperating enough with Shalala as she sought to start 22 new construction projects in a bid to add 1 million square feet of concrete in George Merrick Land. Slesnick fired back that he and Shalala get along swimmingly. And Shalala, well, she is not above attending commission meetings to cast her gaze upon the mayor and commission to get her university what it needs and demonstrating that she possesses every bit of the force of the name used by UM’s sports teams.

Carlos Gimenez

Loyal Opposition

“Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.” The phrase has such a nice ring to it. It sort of means a faction or party that is critical of but still loyal to the Queen’s rule.

Miami-Dade County is technically a republic of sorts, governed by elected representatives and an elected head of state. But after voters approved extra powers for its mayor, he might as well be a king, something that county commissioners, for their own various reasons, are less than thrilled about. But unlike some county commissioners, Carlos Gimenez has been cool and clever about being a counterbalance to the mayor.

Experience likely has a lot to do with it. Gimenez was the city manager of Miami until 2003, when Mayor Manny Diaz opted to trade in the laid-back administrator for the volatile Joe Arriola. A year later, Gimenez was elected commissioner of District 7, covering Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, Key Biscayne, much of Coral Gables and South Miami. He also became a government relations consultant for the law firm of Steel Hector & Davis LLP.

So Gimenez knows politics and he knows when to make a move. For example, Gimenez proposed a piece of legislation that put the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in charge of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s corruption investigations. Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who founded MDPD’s anti-corruption unit when he was its director, angrily declared he would fight the measure. But then news came out that County Manager George Burgess wanted be kept up to date on corruption investigations. Considering some of those investigations involved a couple of county commissioners, well, that could be a problem. Alvarez’s tone changed and Gimenez’s ordinance passed.

But Gimenez has resisted the more outlandish moves against Alvarez’s strong-mayor initiative. Gimenez, along with Commissioner Katy Sorenson, were also the lone dissenting votes against a ridiculous ordinance designed to penalize those who “lie” during petition initiatives. He also voted against Commissioner Natacha Seijas’ equally ridiculous initiative to hire a law firm that opined that Alvarez did not collect signatures properly for the strong-mayor initiative.

Gimenez may also hold the key to removing barriers for unincorporated areas to either join  cities or become self-governing municipalities. Currently unincorporated areas have to pay high fees to County Hall for city-like services. Gimenez figured this law was applied unevenly and was basically unfair.

Gimenez also isn’t afraid to compromise. He once insisted that the Orange Bowl site be the sole area considered for a baseball stadium, especially after other county officials fretted about the courthouses that would need to be relocated and the street alignments changed. But when the Florida Marlins owners said they thought only a downtown site would work, he changed his tune. “For me, I think baseball would work better in an urban, downtown site,” Gimenez told the Miami Herald.

And this isn’t the first time Gimenez has waffled. Two years ago he cast one of the “no” votes against Florida City annexing wetlands contracted to be sold to developers after many feared this was a first step to expand the Urban Development Boundary. The annexation was vetoed by Alvarez. But when the matter came to a vote yet again, Gimenez was out shopping for a sports car. Alvarez’s veto was overridden and the annexation went through.

No one is perfect, certainly no one in County Hall, but Gimenez does have a lot of potential to serve as a legitimate counterweight to arrogant moves by the mayor and his commission colleagues. He just needs to resist the urge to splurge  during pivotal county votes.

David Dermer

Big Voice

Elected Miami Beach mayor in 2001, David Dermer is essentially termed-out. So, in this busy election season, he could just sit back and relax as his colleagues angle and posture for attention while he contemplates his next move inside and/or outside of politics.

Could, but he hasn’t. That’s Dermer.

Back in 1996, Dermer chaired a grass-roots campaign known as Save Miami Beach. The movement, despite opposition from City Hall and an influential developer known as Thomas Kramer, succeeded in persuading voters to back a charter amendment requiring voter approval for density increases along the waterfront. Dermer, the son of Beach Mayor Jay Dermer, ran unsuccessfully for public office in 1991, and was then elected commissioner in 1997. From there he questioned the spending practices of the city’s Redevelopment Agency, sponsored an ordinance banning lobbyists from city boards, was named chair of the city’s General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee, won a highly contested mayor’s race waged in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, proposed a city code that basically made it illegal for registered sex offenders and predators to reside on the Beach and, though a registered Democrat, threw his weight behind George W. Bush’s re-election in ’04.

And in his last year in his last term of office? Well, Dermer pushed for creation of a Cultural Arts Neighborhood District Overlay designed to encourage “cultural workers” and institutions to stay on South Beach. Coincidentally (or not) CANDO covers almost the exact boundaries of City Center, Miami Beach’s remaining redevelopment district. Dermer is also using his fairly loud voice to protect what he feels is the City Commission’s legacy. For example, when Commissioner Michael Gongora found out that another ordinance basically forbade sitting commissioners and their professional associates from lobbying city boards, he asked the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics for an opinion, feeling it wasn’t fair that his law firm, Becker & Poliakoff, couldn’t do its “government relations” bit in Miami Beach. Well, Dermer showed up to the ethics hearing, fearing that an exception for Gongora would pave the way for “corruption.” The ethics commission ruled in Dermer’s favor. And when Commissioner Jerry Libbin enthusiastically proposed creative ways of spending a few surplus million dollars, against City Manager Jorge Gonzalez’s recommendation to put it in a capital reserve fund, Dermer tore him apart on the dais. His message: The city is not a bank for half-baked ideas. His colleagues agreed and Libbin has since backed off.

For the most part, Dermer appears sort of laid-back. But if he thinks someone or something endangers the fiscal health of the city, the quality of life of residents or weakens ethical codes, Dermer will use his booming voice and tall stature to defeat that perceived threat. President Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Well, Dermer is pretty comfortable with using his voice loudly as a big stick.

The Marley Brothers

Melody Makers

Miami has the very unfortunate distinction of being the place where the late, great Bob Marley’s earthly journey came to an end. It was 1981, and after a life spent uplifting the world with his spiritual and revolutionary reggae anthems, the bard lost his battle with cancer at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.

Just over two decades later, his spirit still roams the city, not just through his ever-present songs, but in the flesh and bone of his progeny. Like their father, the Marley children are proud Jamaicans who ultimately look toward Africa as home. With that said, much of their doings and dealings go down right here in Miami.

Every February, music lovers around the world celebrate Marley Senior’s birthday in their homes, cars and places of business by blasting it through their speakers. His family does so by playing those very same tunes onstage at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami. Many may grumble at the ever-increasing ticket prices and the occasional dubious lineup of musicians, but since its inception, a substantial amount of the proceeds from the annual Bob Marley Festival continues to go to various South Florida charities, as well as schools in Jamaica and Ethiopia.

However, it’s the production end of the music where Miami comes stronger into play. Although plenty of Marley family music is still recorded in Jamaica, the headquarters of Ghetto Youths International — the self-run management home of Ziggy, Stephen, Julian and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley — is located in South Miami. And while they’ve never been too far from the spotlight, 2006 ushered in a banner era for the Marley boys. In just over 12 months, Damian dropped “Welcome to Jamrock,” one of the biggest singles of the year, regardless of genre; Ziggy released Love Is My Religion, which won Reggae Album of the Year at the 2007 Grammy Awards; and Stephen put out “Mind Control,” which shot to number one on the Billboard reggae charts upon its release, riding the wave of critical acclaim generated by Rolling Stone, Spin and other industry pubs.

With their recent success, the Marley clan has sparked a resurgence of interest in their family’s musical output, much of which owes a great deal to the cultural landscape of Miami. Though they may not immediately spring to mind, the Marley brothers are in fact some of the biggest musical icons stepping out of South Florida. It’s more than worthy of some acknowledgment

Carlos Alvarez

Supreme Leader

You didn’t have to be psychic to know Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez was going to win that referendum for strong-mayor powers. County commissioners were acting like arrogant, whining children in reaction to Alvarez’s populist power grab. Instead of taking the high road, and arguing that a charter change to give Alvarez power to hire and fire department heads would destroy the balance of power and potentially usher in a wave of cronyism, county commissioners spent thousands of dollars trying to argue, in a vague and technical sort of way, that the petitions were somehow collected improperly. When a judge laughed that argument out of court, the commissioners then proceeded to pass a series of laws curtailing the rights of citizens to petition for new legislation and to recall public officials. Those moves enabled Alvarez to blast the County Commission in the media and implanted within voters the following thought: “Anything is better than this.”

Once given his super-mayoral powers, Alvarez did two noticeable things: He talked the talk of the business establishment by backing the construction of a baseball stadium in downtown Miami and a billion-dollar underwater tunnel for the Port of Miami; and he proceeded to fire (or encourage the resignations of) three or so department heads who were no longer part of the neo-county program.

But more important is this: Alvarez is now in charge of running the day-to-day affairs of government, something county commissioners have noticed as they scramble to take back many of the powers they once delegated to the county manager — who is now, thanks to the charter change, the lackey of the county mayor. (And doesn’t County Manager George Burgess seem oh-so-happy that he now only has to answer to one boss instead of 14?) There will be changes in how county government operates. Whether the changes will be for the better, the worse or have no effect remains to be seen. And as for who will take over the reins of mayoral power after Alvarez? Well, the charter change has given politicians, power brokers and activists in Miami-Dade County something to salivate over in the future.

Jose Miguel Cabrera

Cash Money

Do you smell it? Taste it? Sense it? Once every few years a plan arises to give the Florida Marlins a brand new baseball stadium with substantial assistance from the taxpayers. We are in the midst of that latest wave but to make the long-sought stadium a reality, the Florida Marlins will need to do something.

They will need to win the World Series for a third time. OK, maybe that’s too dramatic. Actually Marlins fans would be plenty satisfied with the team being a contender in the playoffs.

Third baseman Miguel Cabrera (Jose Miguel, to be precise) gives the Marlins’ their best chance to make that happen. Born in 1983, Cabrera is the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to have back-to-back seasons with 30 home runs, and is the first Marlin to hit more than 30 home runs and more than 100 RBIs in consecutive seasons. Last year he had a .339 batting average, 26 home runs and 114 RBIs.

And recently Cabrera brought home another landmark — a pay raise. Cabrera is the first Major League Baseball player to emerge victorious in arbitration hearings this season, boosting his income from $472,000 a year to $7.4 million. ESPN reported that this was also the third-highest arbitration victory in history, “trailing only the $10 million Alfonso Soriano earned after losing to Washington last year and the $8.2 million Andruw Jones got when he defeated Atlanta in 2001.”

But the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Cabrera is young and a tad on the undisciplined side. His stats got him a spot with the National League for last year’s All-Star game, but some sports writers felt the young Venezuelan didn’t play to the best of his ability, which contributed to the NL’s loss to the American League.

But then there’s nothing like a giant pay-boost to motivate a player, at least for the short-term. If Dave Samson plays it smart, he’ll shut his trap about Cabrera skipping the occasional promotional event and let Marlins Manager Fredi Gonzalez hone Cabrera’s home-run hitting skills. And once that happens, Samson can just sit back and watch the politicians turn on the charm as they make their pitch for a stadium. For hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money and tax breaks, $7.4 million for a young player is a small price to pay.

Manny Diaz

The Ambassador

There are many in the Magic City who believe  Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is beholden to developers and special interests.

But outside of South Florida, Diaz is seen as a happening, progressive guy — as the man so environmentally friendly he is leading a drive to create parks, protect trees and sanction green buildings while, at the same time, bringing economic vitality to a once depressed region. A couple of years ago Diaz was named “Urban Innovator of the Year” by the Manhattan Institute. And last year Vanity Fair named Diaz a “green mayor.” Such honors have many locals scratching their heads in amazement.

But Diaz, his staff and his supporters know what they are doing. Outside media are coddled and constantly informed about Diaz’s headline-grabbing initiatives. Thus his reputation in the outside world is unscathed, making him the ambassador of not just Miami, but Greater Miami as well.

Meanwhile, back in the actual city, Diaz’s powerbase is being challenged but remains intact. He still counts three strong allies on the Miami City Commission, notwithstanding Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones’ wavering on the baseball stadium question. Also, as this bio is being typed, it appears that Diaz’s choice of downtown Miami as the site for a baseball stadium is gaining preference at County Hall. And finally there is Miami 21, Diaz’s envisioned urban reorganization of Miami’s archaic zoning system. Diaz and the city’s planning staff are moving full speed ahead with its implementation, giving hizzoner the air of leadership.

Diaz, in short, still has a great deal of influence in Miami and abroad. A friend of the business community (he does take the city of Miami’s economy very seriously, which is much appreciated in chamber of commerces), Diaz will have a future in the private sector and possibly in politics as well. Sure, he will get a few nicks from opponents labeling him “Concrete” Manny, news reports critical of his alternative transportation plans and revelations that his past decisions are being scrutinized by either the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics or the Florida Bar. But, like the skyscrapers that have risen during his reign, Manny will always come out on top.

Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman

The Moviemakers

For all the politicians and well-meaning philanthropists on this list, none has the audacity to reveal as much about the city as Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman.

The filmmakers and Miami natives sent shockwaves through the 305 last fall with their critically acclaimed documentary Cocaine Cowboys, which traced the drug trafficking in Miami in the 1970s and ’80s. But it wasn’t just the warring drug lords or the sheer glee with which they rolled around in their cocaine and cash that made the tightly paced film so intriguing.

It was also the revelations that (like it or not) many of the high-rise buildings that fill the Miami skyline were funded with drug money, and that so much blood was spilled during these so-called “Cocaine Wars” that Time magazine once called the city “Paradise Lost.” Corben (who directs) and Spellman (who produces) received the Florida Film Critics Circle’s Golden Orange award for their efforts on this and Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, about a 1999 alleged rape at the University of Florida. That film won the duo a Special Jury Award at the Miami International Film Festival in 2002.

For a world that’s just as cutthroat but not quite as illegal — the nightclub scene — Corben and Spellman recently completely Clubland, which chronicles the opening of the Mokaï Lounge in South Beach. The team is currently in production on Cocaine Cowboys II: The Godmother Returns.

Casting a mirror on Miami is undoubtedly a trying yet intrinsically fun enterprise, as a sordid past (and present) full of sex, drugs, back-stabbing and more drugs can’t help but reveal unpleasant truths. The fact that we enjoy the spoils of such chaotic riches on a daily basis makes the steamy nastiness of it all even more enticing.

Edgardo Defortuna

The Market Manager

One of the easiest ways to make a little money is to fill a void. When Edgardo Defortuna was a young MBA candidate at the University of Miami, the Argentine native kept an eye on his father’s U.S. properties. He noticed that Latin Americans didn’t quite get all the nuances of the American real estate business, so he opened up a real estate and property management office that would cater to their specialized needs. Defortuna’s understanding of his clientele gained him power over a sizable bloc of the Miami real estate market. During the next several years, Fortune International Realty grew rapidly in South Florida and became well-known and respected throughout Latin America. The company has more than 17 offices and 950 employees in the South Florida region. With favorable exchange rates, the business is currently expanding into Western Europe and Russia.

But stumbling over a market need is pure luck and not always that lucrative, especially when everyone else notices the same thing. The real money comes from an ability to change your focus within the market and create new opportunities for yourself. Armed with valuable insight earned from years in the property management business and having tested the waters as a co-developer, Defortuna became a full-time developer himself in 2001. His first solo project was JADE residences at Brickell Key, which was followed by Le Meridien Resort, The Bridgewater, Jade Beach, Jade Ocean, Artech and the Sonesta Resort and Residences, among others. And, despite a supposed collapse in the real estate market, the latest news is that instead of scaling back the newest Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences at 29th and Collins in Miami Beach, Fortune International is adding a new tower across the street to meet heavy demand.

Defortuna’s civic duties include being a member of Mayor Manny Diaz’s International Council and president of the Argentine-U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Miami.

Rolando Rodriguez

The Fundraiser

You might not make use of Florida’s gigantic travel and tourism industry. You might even get out of having to deal with the complex real estate market. But there comes a time in every Miamian’s life when he or she has to engage the services of the medical industry. Avoiding death weighs heavily on the minds of South Floridians and Jackson Memorial Hospital, with its related affiliates, has long been considered ground central in health care. While many think of the hospital as the place for indigent patients — it is generally considered one of the best public hospitals in the nation — Jackson has also been at the forefront in specialized care. The Ryder Trauma Center, Taylor Breast Center, Batchelor Urology Center and Holtz Children’s Hospital are all part of the Jackson Health System family.

As president of the Jackson Memorial Foundation, Rolando Rodriguez might literally touch the lives of almost every person in the county. He’s responsible for keeping the hospital open and stocked with state of the art equipment. He’s involved in all major decisions, plans and strategies involving the hospital, including fundraising that attracts tens of millions of much-needed dollars into the foundation’s coffers. With public monies drying up, Rodriguez’s current focus is  on improving the facility to attract more private funds. He believes if Jackson becomes the leading hospital in the area, money from private patients will make up the financial shortfall and allow the hospital to still help the poor.

Rodriguez has been with Jackson since 1991. He has also worked with the Catholic Health and Rehabilitation Foundation and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He serves on the Actor’s Playhouse Community Advisory Board, has been on the Board of Governors of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and is chairman of the chamber’s Children’s Health Initiative.

Richard Milstein

The Guardian

Andy Warhol once predicted everyone would have his or her 15 minutes of fame ... but it must stink when your personal 15 follows someone else’s tragedy. Outside of Florida, Richard Milstein is now known as the guardian ad litem for Anna Nicole Smith’s baby Dannielynn, and the lawyer who was granted custody of Ms. Smith’s earthly remains. Locally, though, the 60-year-old attorney has a more colorful reputation. Almost 20 years ago, the then-married father of two discovered he was gay. That realization set Milstein on a laudable path of civic activism. When he’s not at his law office, Milstein spends a good hunk of time each week volunteering for such organizations as the Dade Community Foundation, SAVE Dade, the Miami Performing Arts Center Trust, Pridelines and Aqua Girl.

As well as talk the talk, he also does the walk, literally: He always takes part in and is a top fundraiser for Care Resource’s Annual AIDS Walk. He’s also associated with UM’s Law Alumni Association. The Miami Beach resident, and Beach High graduate, manages to make time to go to work at the Akerman Senterfitt law offices, where he is a shareholder. He specializes in alternative family planning, elder law, probate and family law, which is how the Smiths got into the picture. His good-natured personality fits well with family law, and he’s worked on a number of other high-profile cases in the past. Among his many humanitarian and professional honors are the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, Miami Herald Humanitarian Award and Florida Super Lawyer; perhaps best of all, the Dade County Bar Association named an award after him: The “Richard Milstein Award of Excellence.”

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

The Congressional Exile

When U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen left for Washington, she had already made a name for herself as the first Hispanic woman and first Cuban-American elected to Congress. The 54-year-old Havana native was filling some very large shoes that had belonged to the late Claude Pepper, and perhaps that’s part of her motivation to stay so active in politics. Her congressional roles include being the ranking member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. She also co-chairs the Congressional Vision and National Marine Sanctuary Caucuses. And, although it garners her lots of local support, her public stance on the Castro regime got Ros-Lehtinen into recent trouble on the international scene when she called for the now-ailing despot’s assassination.

When she’s not traveling to Darfur, Auschwitz or D.C., the Republican Ros-Lehtinen is here at her 18th District office coming up with new ways to serve her constituents locally. She has sponsored legislation to help protect coral reefs and other maritime resources. She would also like to establish the National Hurricane Research Initiative, ease the suffering caused by recent hurricanes and encourage science to figure out how these damned monsters happen in the first place.

In other recent activities, Ros-Lehtinen has fought to make windstorm insurance and public housing affordable, expand mental health care for seniors and secure adequate funding for the Keys waste-water projects. This busy little beaver has also been hard at work demolishing the dam of inertia holding back the funds needed to clean up the Miami River ($3.5 million in fedral funds was recently awarded) and ease the settling of Holocaust-era claims for survivors and their heirs. She is highly active in foreign policy, notably terrorism-related matters, and is an advocate of increased security at South Florida’s ports.

Alan and Diane Lieberman

Power Couple

Alan and Diane Lieberman are the dynamic duo of the Miami Beach real estate market. Since arriving from Philadelphia in 1989, the pair has worked tirelessly in several different aspects of the industry, from renovation to conversion to development to investing and even sales. Diane focuses her energy into South Beach Investment Realty, while Alan oversees South Beach Group, which operates and has renovated a number of landmark Art Deco hotels, including the Shelley, Lily Leon, Whitelaw, Chesterfield, Mercury, Hotel Chelsea, Metropole, the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, Collins Plaza, the Phillard Hotel Apartments and others. The company operates the largest group of privately owned hotel rooms in the area and hosts numerous celebrity guests at some of its boutique hotels. Alan is also one of the area’s best-known developers. His homes often run in the eight-figure range. He also produces more modestly priced condominiums like the Montclair. No matter the size, the properties usually stand out from the pack of residential construction sites.

The Liebermans are also well-known art lovers and are often on the scene during Art Basel and other local events. They also contribute heavily to a number of local Jewish charities. And, they were the founders of the Alan & Diane Lieberman Children’s Cultural Art Series, which introduces school-age children to the arts.

Gwen Margolis

The Senator

With more than 30 years in elected office, Florida Sen. Gwen Margolis has a record of breaking glass ceilings and of public service throughout an era that spanned the area’s transformation from a sleepy Southern town to an international metropolis.

A Miami-Dade resident for 46 years, Margolis, 72, served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1974-1980, then was elected to the Florida Senate in 1980, where her leadership and negotiating skills garnered her key positions: She was appointed to chair the Finance, Tax and Claims Committee, and later the Appropriations Committee, where she assisted in leading the state out of budgetary crisis.

Margolis in 1990 became the first woman in the country to serve as head of a state Senate when she was sworn in as president of the Florida Senate. In that position, she spearheaded the passage of legislation touted as the toughest ethics legislation in the nation, as well as a state constitutional amendment that opened government records and meetings to the public.

Two years later, she ran against longtime U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw in an unsuccessful bid for a seat in Congress. She then won election as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner in 1993, and rose up the ranks to become chair. Sunny Isles Beach Mayor Norman Edelcup credits Margolis for the city’s incorporation efforts. In 1997, Margolis was County Commission chair when the Sunny Isles community received approval to incorporate, he said. “She’s responsible in large part for our successful efforts in forming a city. We call (the late community activist and founding Mayor) David Samson the father of our city, and she is the mother of our city. She’s a great lady and activist who has gone on to become a great legislator and county commissioner. She has helped us secure grants for storm-water improvements and other needed projects, and she’s always been out there working for what we need,” said Edelcup. The city named a park after Margolis, and Edelcup is proud to also claim her as a citizen, as she moved to Sunny Isles Beach in recent years.

A champion of women’s rights, Margolis worked unsuccessfully to secure state passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, for which she continues to push.

Susan Gottlieb, Aventura mayor since 2005 and a Miami Beach commissioner from 1991-1999, was quick to praise Margolis’ leadership. “I’ve known her many years, and I’ve always found her to be very responsive. She knows the issues, and she responds to her constituents very well — she always returns a phone call. And she has always been very supportive of women’s issues and of women in office.”

Jeff Mishcon, who served as mayor of North Miami Beach from 1989-2005, said Margolis’ accessibility and understanding of local issues sets her apart from many legislators. “She has been one of the biggest supporters of North Miami Beach. Lots of legislators don’t have an understanding of local issues, and when they go to Tallahassee they surround themselves with aides. But what sets Gwen apart and makes her so special to us was she had a complete understanding of local issues and what mattered to us. When we called Gwen, we spoke to Gwen, not an aide. She was always our go-to gal and she always came through,” said Mishcon. The city recognized her service by dedicating the Gwen Margolis Amphitheater to her.

Elaine Adler, president of the Aventura Marketing Council for 16 years and previously president of the North Dade Chamber of Commerce for as long, said Margolis belongs to a select group motivated by a “love of public service.” Having worked closely with her for 30 years in various capacities, Adler cited a string of accomplishments, from securing funding for the William Lehman Causeway decades ago to, just weeks ago, enlisting support from the Florida State Park District for Anchors Aweigh, an AMC program benefiting disabled children with math, science, life skills and other rewards. “It’s always, ‘what do you need, what can I do to help,’” said Adler. “She is always out there, in tune and aware of the community’s needs. From 30 years to just a week ago, hers is a record of longstanding involvement and commitment.”

Dwyane Wade