The Miami-Dade County Commission unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday in favor of creating the Miami Worldcenter Community Development District. This is a special taxing district that would be used to raise funds for infrastructure for the development project.
Activists and community organizers turned out in force at the meeting, calling for greater labor rights and protections for Overtown residents.
Kandiz Lamb, an organizer with the labor union Unite Here, said she was “not against the MiamiWorldcenter.” Rather, she said, “I am in support of workers having good, stable jobs. I am in support of long-term employment.”
During the public hearing, Lamb and other activists rose and turned their backs when Miami Worldcenter developer Nitin Motwani took the podium. Motwani said he was “disappointed.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of those folks and sitting down with them," Motwani said. "I think they heard some of the things they were looking for today. So there was progress made today, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for them.”
With this vote, the Worldcenter moves on now to groundbreaking, which Motwani expects to happen within weeks.