A community kept from its homes is a story that writes itself, and someone was about to write this one. On January 16, 2024, WPLG Local 10 reporter Janine Stanwood contacted the City of North Miami Beach for an update on Crestview Towers, the condominium it had evacuated in July 2021, days after the Surfside collapse. The reporter had been told the city was holding up the building permits that stood between the displaced residents and their return. PCG had just begun its work for North Miami Beach. Within hours, we answered not with a statement, but with the record.

A community, displaced

When Crestview Towers was condemned in the anxious weeks after Surfside, its residents were given only a short time to gather what they could and go. Nearly three years later, many still had not returned.

“
He said you need to take a little bit of documents, a little bit of clothes and out, out in 15 minutes, be out from the building. I started crying, I was scared.
Sonya NovoseltskayaCrestview Towers resident · to Local 10, 2024

By early 2024, the delay had a narrative forming around it: that the city was the obstacle, holding up the permits that would let residents come home. It was a fair question to ask. It was also, the records showed, not what was happening.

The answer was the record

PCG did not spin the premise or wait it out. The reporter had made a public records request. The same day, we sent her the records she asked for: the complete permit history for Crestview Towers, including the letter the city’s counsel had written months earlier, setting out exactly what the building code required before anyone could move back in.

Seven things stood between the building and re-occupancy:

  1. A working fire alarm system.Installed, inspected, and the permit closed out.
  2. Certified fire protection.Fire pump, standpipe, and sprinklers tested as fully operational by a licensed contractor.
  3. An emergency generator.Installed and approved by the city.
  4. A clean recertification report.The Miami-Dade 40-year report, signed by the engineer of record, stating the building is structurally and electrically safe for re-occupancy.
  5. An electrical thermography report.Certifying the service operating at 400 amperes or greater.
  6. Parking-lot lighting.Certified to the city’s illumination requirements.
  7. Fire-safety lighting.Demonstrated to the satisfaction of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Handing over the file was not enough. Along with it, we wrote a report for the reporter, to help her make sense of a large mix of documents and see exactly what stood between the building and re-occupancy. It was for her, to answer her request, not a release to the public. That was possible because City Manager Mario Diaz and Chief of Staff Marlene Monestime listened to our advice: the faster and fuller the answer, the clearer the record would be.

What the records showed

Read together, the permits told a different story than the one taking shape.

The last open approvalApplied Dec 27, 2023
A single city permit was still pending, to cut and cap a gas line. It was approved on January 16, 2024, the same day the reporter called.
Expediting, not holding up
Every other permit that had been applied for was already issued. The city’s posture was to move the work faster, not to slow it.
The work still outstanding
The county recertification report required for re-occupancy had not yet been submitted. On the permit for structural repairs, no inspection had been requested since December 2022.

None of it was a matter of interpretation. It was in the file.

The story that aired

When Local 10 aired its report on February 21, 2024, the premise had turned. The headline no longer pointed at the city; it read that the condominium association would not answer questions about the delay. Local 10 had gone to a Crestview Towers board meeting but was not allowed inside and was asked to leave. On camera, the city’s position was plain.

“
The city isn’t holding anything up. We’re doing everything we can in terms of expediting their permits, expediting their inspections.
Evan RossSpeaking for the City of North Miami Beach · PCG
The facts were already in the file.

A story that could have blamed North Miami Beach for keeping residents from their homes instead reflected what the permit record showed. The same-day response did not change the facts. It put them in front of the reporter before the story set.

On the record

PCG handled tough and potentially harmful situations for our city, and every time, they made us look good. They consistently achieved positive results even in the most challenging conditions.
Fortuna SmuklerCommissioner · City of North Miami Beach
PCG has uniquely trusted relationships with journalists because, the first time a journalist works with them, they know Evan and his team go above and beyond to make it easy for them to access accurate information. This case was a perfect example of how their journalist-advocate approach benefits their clients.
Mario DiazCity Manager · City of North Miami Beach

The building, and the residentsThe engineering assessment that closed Crestview Towers was contested by the condominium association. The building was ultimately repaired, not demolished, and the City of North Miami Beach cleared it for re-occupancy in the spring of 2025, nearly four years after the evacuation. This case study concerns the city’s communications response to a single news inquiry, not the building’s engineering or any related litigation.