"He is one of the founding fathers of modern-day Miami-Dade County and was a major driving force in the development and opening of what was then called Miami Metrozoo," Magill said in an email interview with the Miami Herald. "I was privileged to have him write the forward to the coffee table book that I wrote on the history of Metrozoo and beyond proud and privileged to call him one of the greatest mentors and friends of my life. There was no one more honest, moral and dedicated to fairness and the better good than Merrett Stierheim."
Stierheim, during his first decade as the county manager from 1976 to 1986, managed the spending that resulted from the "Decade of Progress" bond package that was approved in 1972. Under his leadership, Miami-Dade saw the construction of the Metrorail and Metromover public transportation systems and the 29-story Stephen P. Clark Government Center.
Merrett Stierheim, the Miami-Dade county manager who steered the region's enormous run of public works projects that newcomers may take for granted today, died in July.
One of the projects Stierheim helped lead, Zoo Miami, plans a public celebration of life at its Kendall area amphitheater on Sept. 25. The date was chosen because its Stierheim's birthday. He would have turned 91.
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