LITTLE HAITI (Le Floridien) — A Haitian Press Conference was called on Monday, March 11, 2019 at the Little Haiti Cultural Center Community Room to shed light on a series of concerns related to major developments coming to Little Haiti.
The Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti is a group comprised of Little Haiti residents, non-residents, prominent community leaders, faith-based community organizations, and entrepreneurs.
This group is legally incorporated, according to Father Reginald Jean Marie’s history presentation at the press conference. “It started two years ago when Marleine Bastien, CEO of FANM, reached out to me to introduce me to the issue of Gentrification in Little Haiti,” stated Father Reginald.
Marleine started leading the Little Haiti Advisory Board. Other groups were formed later, such as ‘We Are Little Haiti’, led by Gepsie Metellus and Leonie Hermantin, and ‘Uprise Little Haiti’ with well-known Chef Wilkinson “Ken” Sejour, owner of Chef Creole Restaurant. All these groups started meeting with developers like East Side Ridge and Magic City.
In June 2018, East Ridge went before the City of Miami Commission for special area permits, but the request was deferred.
In July 2018, Magic City went before the same commission. Their request passed with a condition to meet with leaders of the Haitian community.
However, all those community groups (Little Haiti Advisory Board, We Are Little Haiti, Uprise Little Haiti) presented to the Commission separately. In August 2018, Father Reginald reached out to Marleine Bastien and other leaders to bring all groups into one. A unification meeting took place at Jan Mapou’s residence following a major car accident he was involved in.
In September 2018 a follow up meeting was scheduled at Libreri Mapou during which the group agreed to join forces and christened it: Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti.
In October 2018, FANM broke with Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti and decided to remain independent.
Between October and November 2018, Father Reginald continued to say that he was attempting to bring FANM back to the group, but was not successful.
Concerned Leaders continued to meet with Magic City and as of February 28, 2019 the following proposition was established, as attendees of the press conference were told by Leonie Hermantin.
Commissioner Keon Hardemon had negotiated a deal with the developers that would have them contribute $31 million in cash towards “community benefits” in Little Haiti. A portion of $7 dollars should go to Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti to support some specific programs such as affordable housing, job training and creation, small business programs, a community education program to support social services and elders’ initiatives, culture preservation and art, outreach, and media awareness.
According to Ms. Hermantin, Commissioner Hardemon met with concerned leaders and developers. It is currently in discussion how funds are to be placed in a Little Haiti Revitalization Trust to assure accountability and transparency. Details of the trust, including its creation, is still being discussed.
Mrs. Gepsie Metellus, also an active member of Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti, shared that gentrification is serious and started way before developers like East Ridge and Magic City presented their project ideas to Little Haiti. However, she shares in the belief that the community needs to mobilize to protect its legacy and work with developers in order for the community at large to benefit and not lose, so, people working together on the Community Benefit Agreement with the developers remains vitally important.
Gepsie Metellus was followed by young resident Francois Alexandre who insisted on mentoring from Haitian leaders and their abilities to trans
fer knowledge and insight to Millen nials. Alexandre advocated for artists and small businesses in Little Haiti.
Lastly, the panel also introduced Kristen Tellis, the young lawyer representing Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti before the developer Magic City.
For Dr. Flore Lindor Latortue, who led the press conference, “It is through open communication that the community at large can get the right information.” She then welcomed questions from the media. Overall, the press conference lasted somewhat more than an hour and was represented by Haitian radio hosts, tv stations (Island TV, Ayiti TV, and Tropik TV), social media experts, La Voix de L’ Amerique, and print like Haitian Business News, and Le Floridien.
Concerned Leaders of Little Haiti (CLOLH) have introduced themselves to the community on January 23rd, 2019 with an information forum followed by two solutions forums in churches, one on the topic of housing and one in partnership with the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce HACCOF on jobs and economic development in February.
This group counts a total of 22 active members.
Dr. Flore Lindor- Latortue contributed to this report