Big money once again dictated the results of the Coral Gables elections, with Mayor Lago and his endorsed candidate, Lara, heavily bankrolled by construction development giants to the tune of multiple $100,000s. Their underfunded opponents, in contrast, barely reached the $10,000 mark. This victory entrenches the damaging reign of the Lago cohort, responsible for out-of-control development (witness the traffic near UM), increased density, the blatant undervaluation of city property (like the Doctors Hospital valet parking lot), the dangerous underfunding of retirement funds, high taxes, the Mayor’s suspect business dealings, the wasteful Little Gables annexation attempt, and our crumbling infrastructure. The message is clear: in Coral Gables, money talks loudest, and the community suffers.
“A bevy of billionaires in Washington is now attacking Social Security and Medicaid, obliterating health and safety regulations, destroying much of public education, and deciding who in America should be abducted and sent to a brutal prison in another country.” (Robert Reich)
In the upcoming vote for TOM WELLS, a true independent. He will not be dependent on Mayor Lago and the Vice Mayor and the money interests for over development. He will certainly act as fair representative of local residents to ameliorate the culture of large-scale development that is ruining the City of Coral Gables.
DOCTORS HOSPITAL bought its valet parking lot from the City of Coral Gable for was a very good price given the inflation of real estate prices in Coral Gables. It has now eliminated most of the green barrier between the parking lot and local residents road to apparent newly designed lot. The local residents will wait many months and year for a renovated equivalent green area in the back and side of their houses.
We all thinking about future generations, public lands should not be sold except in exceptional cases. One might imagine that In the case of Doctors Hospital they would have paid any large sum to keep and use the valet parking lot indefinitely, to the benefit of the city’s general budget.
The Brazilian Pepper plant which had overgrown the canal made up a big share of the green barrier is considered a weed by Miami-Dade, while the Australian pines in the area are considered equally bad plants but were not eliminated.
The lot was sold against the protests of local residents who stated that the sale and subsequent renovation of the lot will not benefit the residents, and will cause significant costs in reducing property values, significant local environmental impacts, including increased light pollution, loss of wildlife dependent on the green barrier, the increase in noise from the hospital, among others
The many community benefits of the green area, now lost, included:
Provide wildlife habitat (birds, fish, reptiles, manatees…) diversity
Traffic calming and noise mitigation
Impeding views of car traffic, valet parking, buses and ambulances
Impeding view of Doctors Hospital buildings
Mitigate Doctors Hospital lighting
Wind and temperature mitigation in storms and hurricanes
CO2 capture
Favor canal users’ recreational boating and fishing
