![By Alexf (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://thefloridasqueeze.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/256px-balharbour_fla.jpg)
By Alexf (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
A closer look at the situation, however, suggests that’s neither the case, nor the real issue going on in Bal Harbour. The real fight in Bal Harbour isn’t over whether or not to expand the Shops –the true fight is over who should decide the issue once and for all: a small handful of powerful Village Council members or the citizens of Bal Harbour themselves. Mayor Martin Packer has made it clear that he does not want Bal Harbour residents to have any say whatsoever in the Shops matter – as recently as April of this year, he voted to deny them that opportunity. By contrast, the candidates challenging Packer and Sanz have publicly stated that they would support a public referendum on the Shops issue if elected to office – giving the power back to the people.
The contrast is stark: entrenched Council members who don’t want the public to have any say in important civic matters, versus political newcomers who want the public to determine what’s best for the future of Bal Harbour Village as it relates to the Shops’ proposed expansion. The divisions don’t end there, though. Reports have painted Bal Harbour’s upcoming elections as Bal Harbour Shops versus the incumbent candidates. Bal Harbour Shops isn’t confronting Packer and Sanz directly – it is confronting the deep-pocketed outside interests who are propping up their campaigns by funding attacks on their challengers.
Why are outsiders pumping anonymous dollars into tiny Bal Harbour’s municipal elections? Why are they attacking candidates who support Bal Harbour citizens’ right to vote on the Shops expansion and giving a pass to candidates who stonewall the public referendum option at every turn? The answer is simple: because an expanded, upgraded Bal Harbour Shops would provide competition to their own business and potentially impact their bottom line. And with an existing Village Council that continues to stonewall the Shops’ proposal and prevent the public from ever voting on it, keeping that Council in place is their best shot at fending off the competition in South Florida’s competitive luxury retail market.
In short, there’s much more than meets the eye going in Bal Harbour’s upcoming municipal elections, and it goes far beyond the misleading ‘Shops versus Council’ narrative that outsiders have been aggressively peddling in the Village. Bal Harbour citizens, regardless of whether they support or oppose the Shops’ proposed expansion, have a simple choice on Tuesday – and it’s not a vote for or against the Shops expansion, as moneyed outside interests would like Villagers to believe. It’s a vote for two incumbents who are backed by these outsiders and will prevent the public from having a voice, versus a vote for two challengers who believe that consequential decisions that impact the entire community should be made by the community itself.
The Florida Squeeze 
“Let them eat cake.”
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This is not true. The Bal Harbour Shops are suing a Village Council member who voted against their expansion. The Shops are suing the Village of Bal Harbour in an attempt at intimidation to ram their plan through. The Shops are funding the campaigns of the upstart candidates challenging the sitting Council members. The traffic in Bal Harbour is already impassable and the season has not yet begun. The Shops operate as they wish, expanding and changing space around without permits or oversight. There is a restaurant called the Grille where once existed only a canvass awning, no permits no public plans just ‘here it is, we are the Whitmans and we own this town get out of our way.’
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You – have consistently been talking non-sense. What do you not understand when your Mayor does not allow you to vote on issues?
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This article is not true. The Shops are operating in Bal Harbour Village like masters of our universe. They have sued the Village of Bal Harbour, they are suing members of the sitting Village Council who oppose them. They are funding the campaigns of the two challengers to the Council. The traffic in Bal Harbour is impassable already and the season has not yet arrived. There is no need for the Shops to expand. Traffic in the mall is dead, except for the restaurants, some of which are busy. Retail is dying everywhere. Collins Avenue is a state highway, and it is heavily trafficked without more construction without three thousand more cars going to park at the Shops. They demolished two properties – the church and Fairchild Gardens – already but won’t stop there, they want more. They need zoning changes and are trying to ram them against the opposition of the elected sitting officials and the Villge itself. They operate as they wish, no respect for the Village or its residents. The Whitman family is subsidizing the campaigns of the two candidates challenging Martin Packer and Jaime Senz, not for any reason but to approve their expansion demands.
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What do you not understand when your Mayor does not allow you to vote on issues?
Freimark and Albaum look far more honest to me.
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Great article. Jeffrey Freimark and David Albaum are the best choice for us residents to have a real say in our own community.
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We should be able to vote. Packer is out!
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Who is bankrolling Packer? Mayor Packer is not a good person. I think that he is finally out of the picture and us residents can finally have a say in Bal Harbour future.
I vote Freimark tomorrow! As all my friends will.
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