Mr. Volsky Dredges Up More on Ex-City Manager Brown

Mr. George Volsky, the persistent, dogged critic of the City Commission, the Mayor and the Administration of the City, writing for the Coral Gables Gazette states:

…City Hall critics allege, that under Brown and the “see-and-hear-nothing city commission Coral Gables become a “Lawless Banana City?” Still, serious questions remain: why had Finance Director Don Nelson cut 24 Tew-Cardenas $5,000 checks without the Purchasing Orders, as city procurement regulations mandate? Was Nelson ordered to pay by Brown, his old pal? How did Brown and Tew-Cardenas connect, and who knew about it?

That Sansores, Nelson’s top assistant, located only one Tew-Cardenas check, while the Gazette has the record of 12, indicates Finance Dept.’s disarray, as well as the uselessness of Eden, the costly “electronic baby” of our Information Technology department.

Expensive as Brown’s misdeeds were, the costliest is yet to come. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advised Coral Gables that former Mayor Don Slesnick’s administrative assistant Olga Garcia would shortly submit documents supporting her Brown sexual harassment allegation. Avoiding a public trial, as commissioners certainly will do, could cost the taxpayers $2 million, possibly much more.

Even should these accusations be half right certainly evidences that there are too many unresolved questions about the competency of the management of the City government authorities that need to be cleared up.

Future of Merrick Park Mall Owner in Serious Doubt

The Coral Gables Gazette reported on a discussion of the City Commission about the possible bankruptcy of the General Growth Properties, Inc., owner of the exclusive Merrick Park Mall. The mall has had serious problems for some time because it is focused on very high income consumers.  Also, the mall has had difficulties in establishing a local and regional image.

…Mayor Don Slesnick expressed his dismay at the situation and offered little in the way of action, except to ask for divine intervention.

“Let’s hope and pray that this (bankruptcy) does not come to pass and that our shopping center is good to go for the future,” Slesnick said.

As well as getting a status update from mall officials, Slesnick said the city needed to find out what would happen to the mall if its parent company ceased operations, wondering aloud whether the mall would continue to operate if General Growth went under.

It has been obvious for years that the mall represented a serious strategic mistake by trying to locate a high-end mall in a largely middle- to upper middle-class community. The mall has had a large turnover of stores in trying to adjust to interested consumers, and this seems to have largely failed.

City of Coral Gables “Values”

It is worth contemplating the “values” that underpin the Commission, management and employees of the City Beautiful (as seen regularly in the E News of the City).   The recent events surrounding the retirement of the City Manager bring into question whether these values are being fully respected in the conduct of city business–there are citizens who say they are not.  They certainly remain as significant guiding principles for the future of the City.

CITY OF
CORAL GABLES

MISSION
Dedicated people providing exceptional services to residents, businesses and visitors while preserving our heritage.

VALUES
Accessibility
Accountability
Competency
Dedication
Innovation
Integrity
Loyalty
Responsiveness

CITY COMMISSION

MAYOR
Don Slesnick

VICE MAYOR
William H. Kerdyk Jr.

COMMISSIONERS
Maria Anderson
Rafael “Ralph” Cabrera Jr.
Wayne “Chip” Withers


INTERIM CITY MANAGER
Maria A. Jimenez

CITY ATTORNEY
Elizabeth M. Hernandez

CITY CLERK
Walter J. Foeman

More than enough truth

There’s a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.
– PJ O’Rourke