Is retaliation behind the closure of the Virginia Key Outdoor Center’s protest against homeless encampment? | Key Biscayne

All was quiet Saturday at the Virginia Key Outdoor Center off the Rickenbacker Causeway, a day when residents and tourists would enjoy renting a kayak and paddling out in peaceful Biscayne Bay.

On the Center’s website, there was a note in red letters: Hours may change under current circumstances.

And, on the answering machine, a familiar Bob Marley song with a twist of irony played: “… Don’t worry about a thing … because every little thing is gonna be alright …”

It was less than 24 hours when Miami police knocked on the door and served eviction papers to owner Esther Alonso, who rents the property from the City of Miami.

In part, the City of Miami’s official statement read:

“Today, the Virginia Key Outdoor Center was indefinitely shut down for several code violations, including operating without a certificate of use … In addition, our Real Estate Asset Management currently estimates that the VOKC owes more than $140,000 in past due rent. VOKC has also failed to provide financial statements as required …”

Alonso told Local10 WPLG News she mailed in the checks and they “disappeared.”

She claims the closure is in retaliation for speaking up against the “tiny homes” idea that was placed before the Miami Commission just within the past three weeks, calling for a pilot program of 50-100 of the shelters to keep Miami’s chronically homeless — those who would volunteer to be in an unlocked, fenced-in environment without liquor or drugs — safe in a 24-hour guarded area.

The pilot program would include about half as many tiny homes as what a permanent site would normally consist of, an official told commissioners.

“This is how we lose our country, with the abuse of power,” Alonso told Local10 News, saying she was of Cuban descent, and wondered how she could be taken to jail, as officers told her, for refusing to sign a document from the city.

Three weeks ago, she was one of several who addressed City of Miami commissioners early in the day during the public comments portion, saying she was afraid to lose her business and urged commissioners not to destroy Virginia Key’s fragile environment or take away from its natural beauty.

The first resolution failed 3-2, but within a couple of hours of the 13-hour span of decisions, a second non-agenda resolution was brought up when Commissioner Alex de la Portilla had second thoughts.

That resulted in a 3-2 swing in favor of testing a pilot program on Virginia Key’s North Trail Point with the idea of bringing back at least two other viable sites during the second Commission meeting in September.

Commissioner Joe Carollo and Chair Christine King voted “yes” both times, while Ken Russell and Manolo Reyes voted “no” each time, with Reyes being caught off-guard as a second vote was presented.

Friday, Alonso pointed to Carollo as the instigator, although he insisted to reporters he did not know anything about the eviction, saying he lacked the authority to even order Boy Scouts onto that property, much less police officers.

Just two weeks ago, Local10 news anchor Louis Aguirre moderated a Zoom panel meeting called by Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who brought other staff members along to point out a long list of potential detrimental effects, problems or concerns there might be if that area was selected.

Four days later, on Monday of this past week, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Carollo called a brief news conference to say there would be a six-month “pause” in any plans to create a pilot program for the homeless.

And, while many on Key Biscayne and those who have ties to the Virginia Key area were breathing a sigh of relief, Alonso remained skeptical, saying on Outdoor Center’s Instagram post that “The City of Miami’s decision to pause, to pause, not stop, pause the homeless encampment proposed for Virginia Key … this isn’t really a win.

“Pausing for six months is the time that they need to get their ducks in a row; it’s the time they need to buy their tiny sheds, uh, tiny homes; it’s the time they need to push this forward. So we have to stay vigilant, we have to stay active, and we have to stay engaged.

“What a pause does is it makes people think they have a win and it’s going away. What this pause does is eliminate one of the ‘no’ votes. … Commissioner Russell will be leaving at the end of the year.”

There was plenty of social media outcry also pointing fingers at Carollo.

Alonso, who spearheaded last Saturday’s protest on Virginia Key, encouraged petitioners to expand their radius to acquire 20,000 signatures on the change.org site (already 15,000 signatures have been collected in opposition of the plan).

“Let’s not forget, it’s not just about Virginia Key,” Alonso said on her Instagram message. “This is a horrible, undignified program that does nothing for the homeless population it claims to help … There are professionals working on this issue. Let them do their jobs.

“The City of Miami is not in the business of treating homeless individuals. I’m not sure why they think they have a better skill set … We’ve seen this with a lot of other projects with the city. This overreach of government, this big platform of government that is being embraced, is troubling.

“It’s bad for people, it’s bad for taxpayers, it’s bad for parks,” she said. “It’s bad.”