FYI Miami


	Air traffic and tourists go skyward through Miami International Airport
	Future of Omni Center on the line: bank markets non-performing loan
	Weak dollar, strong Latin American economies abroad luring foreigners to Miami-Dade
	City hunts for funds to dredge two polluted Miami River tributaries
	Port of Miami is looking to Gov.-elect Rick Scott's visit as it seeks money to dredge bay
	Miami-Dade County pumps cash into $100 seniors grants
	Small business values creep back, but buyer scarcity keeps sales slim

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FYI Miami is a weekly feature of Miami Today, keeping readers ahead of the news. Here are highlights from the most current edition.

Complete coverage, including The Insider and all information columns, is available in the e-edition. Sign up now.

   NEW CITY MANAGER: Tony E. Crapp Jr., who last month was promoted from assistant Miami city manager to deputy city manager, will be named city manager next week by Mayor Tomás Regalado, for whom he has worked in various posts since he left college 15 years ago. Mr. Regalado said he also considered several executives at county hall for the post, which becomes vacant when unpaid volunteer City Manager Carlos Migoya leaves this month. But, the mayor said, he found them leaning toward raising taxes, so he decided on Mr. Crapp, a Florida International University political science grad who joined the staff of Mr. Regalado when he was a newly elected commissioner in 1996. Mr. Crapp became chief of staff to the commissioner at age 25 in 1998 and stayed on as chief of staff to the mayor when Mr. Regalado won that post just over a year ago.
   CONVENTION GROWTH: A master plan for the Miami Beach Convention Center expansion won't be ready until mid-January, said Stuart Blumberg, co-chair of the Miami Beach Convention Center Master Plan Steering Committee. Arquitectonica, the firm charged with designing the plan, is still working on the project's phasing, cost estimate and written submittal, said Sergio Bakas, the firm's senior vice president. The expansion looks to add a hotel and outdoor meeting space, among other improvements.
   RECALL CASE STUDY: Miami-Dade's Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin has implemented many cutting-edge technological upgrades to the county court system, but now his ideas are spreading across the country. Mr. Ruvin said Georgetown University in Washington, DC, caught wind of his efforts to use a scanning system to better count recall petition signatures and plans to consider the method in a case study. Mr. Ruvin created the system as a result of auto dealer Norman Braman's bid for a mayoral recall. Mr. Braman submitted 113 boxes containing almost 113,000 separate petition forms, breaking public records. Under the new system, signatures are scanned and can be viewed alongside voter registration rolls, allowing workers to compare images without risk of loss or damage.
   SEIJAS SPEAKS RECALL: Miami-Dade Commissioner Natacha Seijas spoke briefly about the recall effort being taken against her at Tuesday's commission meeting. "The process I'm being put through is democratic, and I support it," she said. Miami Voice, a political action committee, filed signed petitions with the Clerk of Courts on Monday. The group's head, Vanessa Brito, has announced plans to support recall efforts against five of the eight commissioners who supported the approved county property tax increase.

   Complete coverage, including The Insider and all information columns, is available in the e-edition. Sign up at www.miamitodaynews.com

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