The jetport is dead
The jetport is dead; long live the parks
Columnist Carl Hiaassen , Miami Herald
December 12, 2001
The Air Force has hammered another nail in the coffin of the misbegotten Homestead jetport, and even Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas is kicking dirt on the grave.
After a seven-year fight, the insider deal to top all insider deals finally appears dead.
In a memo shorter than a sneeze, Air Force Secretary James Roche affirmed an earlier decision killing the county's plan to develop part of the former Homestead Air Force Base as a major commercial jetport.
The screwy scheme, a now-infamous giveaway that reeked of backroom smoke, had been approved in 1994 by the County Commission. Without seeking any competing bids, commissioners made a deal with an unlikely consortium called the Homestead Air Base Developers Inc.
HABDI's original principals were well-connected Hialeah home builders who knew as much about airport design as they did about nuclear fission.
However, they did know several commissioners personally and were generous at election time.
Opposition to the sweetheart lease was instant, but the commission didn't back down. The jetport juggernaut rolled along briskly until the environmental-impact study came under scrutiny.
A few minor omissions -- such as plans for a second runway -- heightened noise and pollution concerns among conservation groups and South Dade residents. So did future projections of 650 flights a day, a number hastily reduced to appease critics.
The jetport's location couldn't have been worse -- Everglades National Park to the west, Biscayne National Park to the east and the continent's only living coral reef to the south. Both the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency opposed the project.
In retrospect, the most remarkable thing about the plan isn't how terrible it was, but rather how durable. That such an awful idea took so long to expire is proof of how much money was at stake for a select few.
Until this week, Penelas had been an unflagging cheerleader, promising the jetport would energize South Dade while taking pressure off Miami International. But he neglected to mention that a new airport also would have fabulously enriched his lobbyist pals, who've already plucked MIA like a Christmas goose. Those seeking contracts at the Homestead facility would have felt compelled to hire Rodney Barreto, Chris Korge or some other golden boy with close ties to the mayor or county commissioners.
Airport business makes lobbyists wealthy, and in return lobbyists raise money for politicians. In Florida this is an immutable law of nature.
As The Herald reported Sunday, the consulting group managing MIA's $5.4 billion expansion shelled out $482,000 to a single firm -- which includes Korge and Barreto -- from 1996 to 1998. Thousands more were donated to local candidates.
No wonder Dade Aviation Consultants fought to keep the information secret. It confirms what has long been suspected about the six-figure clout of certain lobbyists at MIA. When the Air Force agreed to turn Homestead AFB over to the county, dollar signs were in the air.
Today HABDI includes members of the Mas Canosa family, owners of the Sedano grocery chain, and Carlos Herrera, a past president of the Latin Builders Association and one of the original partners.
They, too, turned to lobbyists -- in this case, the heavyweight firm of Vernon Liipfert in Washington, D.C.
HABDI contended that scrapping the jetport was the Clinton administration's way of retaliating against Penelas for abandoning Al Gore last November. The argument was absurd because the airport had always been a Democratic daydream, its chief boosters being Penelas and Sen. Bob Graham. Herrera himself has been a major donor to the party.
HABDI's high-paid lobbyists failed to persuade the Bush administration that an injustice had been perpetrated, and the Air Force slam-dunked the jetport again last week.
The present County Commission already had voted to bail out of a lawsuit challenging the decision. Penelas said the fight was over, and he wouldn't bother with a veto.
Currently the plan is to convert the Homestead base to a center for environmental research and tourism, capitalizing on its proximity to Biscayne Bay and the Everglades.
Whatever ultimately happens to the land, at least it won't become another MIA. That should be welcome news for everybody but the insiders and profiteers.
Carl Hiaasen
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