Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
AMENDED
EXHIBIT 1
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Plaintiffs,
v.
Defendants.
___________________________________/
1. I am above the age of 18, and have personal knowledge of the facts set forth
herein.
styled action.
4. On the Friday of every month, Viernes Culturales organizes and holds a festival
5. The original idea for the festival came from The City of Miami.
based upon a Latin Quarter Study and a Little Havana Neighborhood Planning Study, both of
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which recommended that, in order to preserve and enhance the rich culture of Little Havana, a
series of cultural activities including art exhibits, dance, music, poetry, theater, film, and
7. The creation of Viernes Culturales also had the support of the City of Miami
Commission. In fact, then-Commissioner Willy Gort and then-City Administrator Pablo Canton
were two of the Founders of Viernes Culturales. Viernes Culturales currently has both City and
County Commissioners participating on the Board and is sponsored by the Miami-Dade County
Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, as well as The James L. Knight Foundation and
8. With all of this support, Viernes Culturales has organized a festival incorporating
all of the art galleries, businesses and restaurants along 8th street from 17th Avenue down to
14th Avenue, on the last Friday of every month. The Festival has occurred every month for
9. Over the course of its history, Viernes Culturales has raised and spent more than
$3 million building the Friday cultural event. Each month Viernes Culturales sends out
thousands of emails to get people to attend. A true and correct copy of a typical advertisement
10. As a result of these marketing efforts, the Festival has become extremely well
known and well attended by more than 5,000 people each month. Of course, the vendors who
participate in the event, as well as the neighborhood stores and shops, have come to rely on the
11. An integral part of the monthly festival are the activities that take place in
Domino Plaza, which houses over 20 vendors selling original art and handmade crafts and has a
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stage at the back of the park to showcase singers, musicians and other talent from the Little
Havana community. The City has always been exceptionally supportive of the festival and
provided support through the provision of stages and increased police oversight.
12. In recognition of the success the Festival continues to have in revitalizing Little
Havana and supporting the local artists, musicians, dancers, craftsmen, and entrepreneurs,
Commissioner Willy Gort and Mayor Thomas Regalado have awarded Viernes Culturales with a
13. On at least six occasions over the past year, Viernes Culturales has invited
Commissioner Carollo to come to its events and even to join its Board of Directors meetings.
For example, on March 19, 2018, the Director of Viernes Culturales, acting on my instruction,
sent a letter to Mr. Carollo to invite him to a March 29, 2018 Viernes Culturales Board Meeting.
The purpose of the invitation was to introduce Mr. Carollo to Viernes Cultures Board of
Directors and open a dialogue with Mr. Carollo on Viernes Culturales’ plans and future goals. A
14. On April 6, 2018, I sent Mr. Carollo an email, following up on our March 19,
2018 invitation. In my email, I attached a copy of the invitation sent on March 19, 2018, and,
again, invited Mr. Carollo to the April 19, 2018 Viernes Culturales Board Meeting. A true and
15. On August 8, 2018, I sent another email to Mr. Carollo, to again invite him to a
Viernes Culturales Board Meeting, which would be held on September 20, 2018. A true and
16. While the prior emails had been sent by Ms. Pati Vargas at my instruction, on
September 28, 2018, I directly sent an email to Carollo to, again, invite him to participate in a
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Viernes Culturales Board Meeting, which would be held on October 17, 2018. A true and
17. Despite serving as the City’s Commissioner for Little Havana, Carollo never once
18. On August 3, 2018, I was able to take the sworn testimony of Carollo’s former
Campaign Advisor and District Liaison, Mr. Stephen Miro. Even before Carollo had taken any
action against Viernes Culturales, and unprompted by the questioning itself, Mr. Miro explained
to a public records request, Carollo forwarded the invitations to join Viernes Culturales and help
it to Mr. Miro. Mr. Miro forwarded them to Mr. Kuehne and to an email address
Carollo, Mr. Miro, and Mr. Kuehne are attached hereto as Composite Exhibit F.
20. Mr. Kuehne then created a corporation called Que Pasa Little Havana on April 10,
2018, a mere 3 weeks after I invited Mr. Carollo to attend the Viernes Culturales Board of
Directors meeting. A true and correct copy of the articles of incorporation of Que Pasa Little
21. More importantly, Carollo’s efforts to eliminate Viernes Culturales resumed a few
short weeks after Miro’s testimony, as I withdrew an ethics complaint against Carollo. At that
time, in late August 2018, Carollo ordered that Domino Plaza be shut down and physically
barricaded. No public reason was ever given. However, when the security guard at Domino
Plaza was asked why it was shut down, she said it was at the order of the commissioner. Asked
how she knew Carollo had closed it, she said he had come to the site on Thursday to make sure it
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was shut down. Domino Plaza reopened on August 29, 2018, and on Friday, August 31, 2018,
just two hours before Viernes Culturales was set to begin, he ordered it shut again. The excuse
was “pothole repair,” but in reality there were only a handful of tiles that had been removed and
needed to be replaced (and their initial removal was probably at the order of Carollo). In the
midst of all of this, another City Commissioner explained to me that Carollo was targeting the
22. During the 18-year history of the festival, and right up until October 2018,
Viernes Culturales had never applied for or obtained a special events permit in relation to
Domino Plaza, where a key part of the festival occurs, and, despite its heavy involvement in the
Festival, the City has never requested or required Viernes Culturales to pull any type of events
permit.
23. The first time Viernes Culturales applied for a special events permit for use of
Domino Plaza was for the October, 2018 event. The reason Viernes Culturales did so in that
month was because I had learned that Commissioner Carollo was planning to apply for a permit
for himself for that same day, in order to block the Viernes Culturales Festival. Accordingly,
Ms. Pati Vargas, the Director of Viernes Culturales, applied for and was granted a special events
24. Ms. Vargas had been asked to secure permits for the remaining fourth Fridays of
each month as well. When she submitted the application for the last Friday of November,
however, she was informed by the City that Commissioner Carollo had in fact beaten her to the
punch and filed his application for use of the plaza that same Friday.
25. Specifically, the City stated: “Please be advise [sic] that at this time you [sic]
application for Viernes Culturales for Domino Plaza can’t be process [sic] since the park has
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been reserve [sic] for those days.” A true and correct copy of the November 13, 2018 email from
26. Viernes Culturales has since obtained a copy of the application Mr. Carollo
submitted, which he did on November 8, 2018, one day after the election. A true and correct
27. The application is submitted in Commissioner Carollo’s own name, rather than
that of Que Pasa Little Havana, and the City Attorney, despite being fully aware of Carollo’s
retaliatory conduct, has rebuffed complaints from Viernes Culturales, stating that Commissioners
28. Carollo’s attempts to shut down Viernes Culturales without any regard for the
history of the institution, whose founding was inspired by the City of Miami and supported for
more than eighteen years by the City, is also done without regard to the real harm that his actions
are causing those who have devoted much of their adult lives to promoting Viernes Culturales.
Among those harmed by Mr. Carollo’s actions is Viernes Culturales Director Ms. Pati Vargas
who is emotionally distraught, and has resigned from her position as Director because she feels
so bad that Mr. Carollo filed his application for the space before she did on behalf of the
organization.
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EXHIBIT A
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EXHIBIT B
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******
Invitation to
Comm…lo.docx
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I would like to invite you to a board meeting for Viernes Culturales that will take place at
Futurama located at 1637 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33135 on Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 4:45 pm, we
can also meet at your office if you wish. The purpose of the meeting is to introduce you to our Board of
Directors and open a dialogue with you on our upcoming plans and future goals.
As I am sure you are aware, Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays, Inc. is a nonprofit organization
which coordinates the popular Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays art, music and culture festival. Our
events are held on the last Friday of every month in the heart of Little Havana, on Calle Ocho between
13th and 17th Avenues, from 7-11 pm.
The idea for Cultural Fridays originated from The City of Miami Planning Department with the
support of the City of Miami Commission, in collaboration with The Latin Chamber of Commerce, Little
Havana Development Authority, merchants, residents, design professionals and community leaders. A
City of Miami Planning Department 1984 Latin Quarter Study and 1994-96 Little Havana Neighborhood
Planning Program recommended that a series of cultural activities and events including art exhibits,
dance, music, poetry, theater, film, and neighborhood historic tours should be promoted all year round in
order to preserve and enhance the rich culture of Little Havana. The first Cultural Friday was held on May
26, 2000 and approximately 2,000 people attended. Since then, internationally known artists have
participated and supported Viernes Culturales/Cultural Fridays.
Cultural Fridays is targeted to all those who enjoy arts and culture. Our audience is multicultural
and represents the ethnic diversity of our South Florida community. Anyone who enjoys live music,
dancing under the stars, art galleries, domino games, cigar rollers, local arts and crafts and delighting in
the wonder that is Little Havana is more than welcome to be a part of Cultural Fridays!
Over the years, Viernes Culturales has provided a forum for residents of Little Havana to foster a
sense of community in the area where they live; to communicate more effectively the needs of our
neighborhood to city officials such as yourself; and to encourage residents to work together to keep our
neighborhood an attractive and safe place to live.
I hope you will come to meet the dedicated and talented members of our board and to engage
with all of us to come up with a plan on how to work together to ensure that Viernes Culturales continues
to remain an integral part of the Little Havana experience.
If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please call me at 305-643-5500.
Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you at the meeting.
Sincerely,
Pati Vargas
Director, Viernes Culturales
EXHIBIT C
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Good morning Commissioner Carollo, I hope this email finds you well. Attached is an invitation the Board
of Viernes Culturales extended last month to you and would like to extend to you once again. Our next
Board meeting is Thursday, April 19 at 4:45 pm at our offices. If you would rather the Board can meet you at
your offices. Thank you very much for your time.
******
******
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Invitation to
Comm…lo.docx
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EXHIBIT D
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Sincerely,
Pati Vargas
Director, Viernes Culturales
305.643.5500 www.viernesculturales.org
******
NEXT VIERNES CULTURALES, FRIDAY AUG. 31, 2018 | 7- 11 PM
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EXHIBIT E
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COMPOSITE
EXHIBIT F
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From: Miro, Steven <SMiro@miamigov.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 7:13 PM EDT
To: ben.kuehne@kuehnelaw.com <ben.kuehne@kuehnelaw.com>
Subject: Fwd: Invitation to next Viernes Culturales Board Meeting
Attachment(s): "Invitation to Comm Carollo.docx"
******
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From: Miro, Steven <SMiro@miamigov.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 7:15 PM EDT
To: quepasalittlehavana@gmail.com <quepasalittlehavana@gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: Invitation to next Viernes Culturales Board Meeting
Attachment(s): "Invitation to Comm Carollo.docx"
EXHIBIT G
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EXHIBIT H
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 5:49:15 PM Eastern Standard Time
Bill Fuller
305-525-7662
Good Morning
Sincerely yours
Page 1 of 2
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Aylin Orta
Administra.ve Clerk
City of Miami
Office of Communications
Divisiont of Film and Entertainment,
2nd Floor
Office: (305)416-1322
aorta@miamigov.com
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EXHIBIT I
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