The long-anticipated opening of Vlada Lounge is being held hostage by the most unlikely of creatures: The Miami Commission. The elegant, Russian-inspired gay bar has incongruously been labeled a "bad element" in a neighborhood fighting for years to get itself just referred to in polite society as anything but a "ghetto". First, The Commission turned block after block over to the nightlife big-spenders just to get some blood into the wasteland that was The Design District and then they double-dipped and sold the rest to developers eager to erect now-vacant towers in a wasteland that no one ever wanted to be in in the first place. A lot of money passed hands.



When the words, Miami Commission, rolls across your lips, you might as well add a guttural "corruption" to it; Miami proper is the closest thing to Chicago in The Thirties you will ever find. Graft, payoffs, diamond Rolex's, and much more are on the daily table for anyone lucky enough to be on "The Commission". So, it is astounding to many of us that Vlada would be "bad" unless, of course, they didn't do their homework. It will be an interesting commission meeting. Bring your gift boxes.