Annual Art Issue

Editor’s Note

Three Cheers for Democracy

Anyone who has read this column over the last year understands our dismay at the dysfunctional antics at City Hall, where a three-vote block has pushed back against progressive legislation in the city, threatened the city’s fiscal integrity, and instituted what amounted to a reign of terror that resulted in the loss of some of the best talent working for the city, including the loss of a highly competent city manager, a highly competent director of building services, and an exemplary city attorney.

With the re-election of Mayor Vince Lago and Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, and the run-off election of Richard Lara, the power of what we referred to as the Gang of Three, or the troika of Commissioners Ariel Fernandez, Melissa Castro, and Kirk Menendez, has been broken. Moreover, the robust turnout of voters has proven that they did not represent the majority of residents (as they claimed), and that their election was indeed the result of a small (albeit dedicated) turnout of voters in the last election.

What is most refreshing about this election is the fact that the majority of voters in Coral Gables were able to see through the astonishingly negative and downright dirty tactics of opposition to Lago, Anderson and, ultimately, Lara – everything from groundless attacks on Mayor Lago’s personal life to false accusations of Vice Mayor Anderson’s record on approvals for building heights. Both are dedicated public officials who are committed to enhancing the public life of Coral Gables residents and the well-being of the city. We expect Lara to continue in the same mold of conscientious governance.

Above all, we look forward to the return of civility at City Hall. Coral Gables has long distinguished itself as a city where government has been conducted with calm and mutual respect, a dignity which was overturned by the troika, whose disruptive antics – and bad agenda – turned City Commission meetings into displays of unseemly behavior.

Three cheers for democracy. The people have spoken.