Should we stay or should we go? Right now, the scorecard is divided among downtown Miami businesses and civic offices trying to anticipate the workplace problems caused by this month's free-trade summit.
Scared off by warnings of violent protests, street closures and traffic tie-ups, dozens of businesses and institutions have decided to make alternate arrangements for the week of Nov. 17, when the Free Trade Area of the Americas conference convenes in Miami.
Sandy Hequin is ''terrified'' about the potential havoc when tens of thousands of protesters march by the glass windows of her store, Morays Jewelers. She decided to let her 14 employees stay home after seeing pictures this week of what happened in 1999 at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.
''We cater to the elite capitalists they hate so much,'' said Hequin, whose family has owned the store at 50 NE Second Ave. for almost 60 years. ``Life isn't worth taking a chance. It's only money.''
But for every Hequin who is closing up shop, there is a business like Burdines that will operate normally. The chain's downtown Miami store and corporate headquarters in the same building will remain open for the entire week.
''We feel very comfortable that they have the situation under control,'' said Carey Watson, spokesman for Burdines, which has about 600 employees downtown.
Others are taking a wait-and-see stance.
''No one wants to be the only one closing up shop, but no one wants to be the only one open either,'' said Philip Porta, property manager for 1 Biscayne Tower, which will remain open. But Porta hasn't heard from any tenants about their plans.
RELOCATIONS
Dozens of law and accounting firms are temporarily relocating employees to Broward County offices or allowing people to work from home. The Miami federal courthouses will be closed for the week, while the Miami-Dade Circuit Court has canceled all criminal and civil jury trials.
''I don't see how anyone can run a business in this area,'' said Mike Segal, managing partner for the Miami office of Broad & Cassel. ``No client is going to want to come down here, and just getting here is likely to take an extra hour or two.''
The New World School of the Arts has made arrangements for its 478 students to be sent to study halls at their neighborhood schools for the entire week. Students from other downtown Miami public schools will also be relocated, and Miami Dade College will close Thursday and Friday. Many major cruise lines are relocating ships from the Port of Miami-Dade to Port Everglades for the week.
But there are just as many businesses and institutions that intend to be open.
Miami-Dade County will not shut its offices, County Manager George Burgess said.
It will be business as usual at the Seybold Building, which houses dozens of independent jewelry stores.
''Our tenants don't think it will be a threat to us,'' said Sonia Rios, Seybold property manager.
DIFFICULT LOGISTICS
For those deciding to close up shop, logistics haven't been easy.
New World couldn't find a location at one site for all of its 478 students or arrange transportation. Instead, administrators settled on sending at least one teacher to supervise kids at the neighborhood schools, but they will not have organized classes.
''It's about having a safe place for the kids to be that week, because, obviously, being at New World will not be safe,'' said Ellery Brown, New World principal.
Law firms Broad & Cassel and Shutts & Bowen, located in the Miami Center adjacent to where the FTAA meetings will take place, plan to shut their Miami offices for the week.
Employees are being relocated to other offices or allowed to work from home. Both firms have been busy adding computer hook-ups and redirecting fax machines to make sure clients don't notice the change.
''We think this is the best way to ensure that our operations continue to run smoothly,'' said Bowman Brown of Shutts & Bowen.
It's the same reason that Carnival Cruise Lines has moved all its ships to Port Everglades for the week. Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line are moving one ship each.
That's not good for Titi Puente, owner of Sedici Cafe. Puente usually looks forward to November, when heavier ship traffic brings a heftier number of crew members to his 35-table restaurant.
EMPTY TABLES
''This is not going to be a fun week,'' said Puente, whose cafe, 16 NE Third Ave., will remain open but reduce staff from five to one or two. ``The crew members are the icing on the cake for my business.''
Even as the clock ticks down to the start of the FTAA meetings, many businesses have not decided what to do. Some say they'll see how the beginning of the week goes.
''We're going to try to keep a flexible approach,'' said Paul Singerman, co-chief executive of Berger Singerman. The law firm will move some employees to offices in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton but keep a skeleton crew in Miami. ``We don't want to panic.''
Florida's two largest banks, Wachovia and Bank of America, say they will decide by the beginning of next week about whether to relocate downtown employees to other offices and close downtown branches to consumers.
Herald staff writers Dale K. DuPont, Matthew Pinzur and Karl Ross contributed to this report.
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