July City Hall: An Update on Burger Bob’s, No Consensus on Inspector General, and More

Voted 5-0 to fund maintenance to the painted artwork installation on the crosswalks by City Hall via the Art in Public Places “extraordinary maintenance” condition.

Voted 5-0 to approve the 2024-25 Cultural Grant recipients that were unanimously recommended by the Cultural Development Board and to increase funding to the grant program to $223,335, up from the $191,228 awarded annually since 2020. This year, there were 45 applicants to the grant program, which awards funds to cultural organizations such as theaters and museums. In 2024, there will be a total of 1,259 cultural arts programs and events in the city, 40 percent of which will be free. The local economic impact of these events, which draw visitors to local shops and restaurants as well, is estimated to be above $27 million. 

Deferred a vote to approve or disprove the purchase and installation of the sculpture “A Perfect Place” by José Bedia, recommended unanimously by both the Arts Advisory Panel and the Cultural Development Board. Bedia’s works are in prominent collections across the world, including the MoMA, the Met, and the Guggenheim. The Board recommended the piece, which will cost about $153,000 in total, be placed in Kerdyk Park after it spent the last 23 years at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach. Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson recommended gathering more community input on the piece before voting to approve while Commissioner Ariel Fernandez expressed issues with the aesthetics of it.

Listened to a presentation by the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT), a volunteer organization that oversees funding to the People’s Transportation Plan (PTP). The PTP was established in 2002 when county citizens approved a half-penny increase in sales taxes throughout the county to go toward improvements in public transportation. Over 21 years, nearly $5 billion has been generated toward transit and transportation projects. The City of Coral Gables has used its funds quite well, according to the CITT representative, with 93 percent of funds used on transit projects like the trolley and Freebee.

Voted 5-0 to approve a project by the local Girl Scouts to provide homes for owls, which benefit the community by reducing the amount of pests in the city. The Girl Scouts build the homes themselves and came to the Commission to seek approval to place them throughout the city. Mayor Lago asked the high school students in charge of the project to meet with city staff to discuss the aesthetics and placement of the homes.

Voted 5-0 to approve a five-year lease with Bogey Grill, LLC to operate the restaurant formerly known as Burger Bob’s, which the city has spent the last few years renovating. One of the owners of Bogey Grill, LLC is Rita Tennyson, the former manager of Burger Bob’s, who will reprise her role as manager. A new name for the diner has yet to be announced. Mayor Lago and Vice Mayor Anderson both expressed frustration over receiving the lease only the night before, which hampered their ability to review it. The conversation became heated when Commissioners Menendez and Fernandez accused Lago and Anderson of “grandstanding” just because they “don’t like” the recently hired city manager, whose office is largely in charge of the diner’s future. Vice Mayor Anderson shot back, “It’s quite embarrassing when we’re trying to do good work and people [use] words like ‘grandstanding’ who, in fact, are grandstanding to make a political statement when communications are lacking within our city…. That’s my point: lack of communication, lack of direction; something you [Fernandez] called ‘insubordination’ in the past.”

Voted 5-0 to conditionally approve a site plan for MG Developer’s proposed townhome development project known as The George. The developer is responsible for several other similar projects, including Althea Row, Biltmore Row, and The Village at Coral Gables, which is currently being constructed. One issue with the project is the number of trees currently on the land, including six mature oak trees, which Mayor Lago expressed a desire to “save” somehow. There is already a tentative plan to relocate them and the Commission will hear more on the subject at its next meeting.

Voted 5-0 to approve funding for the installation of temporary speed tables at all approved locations pending permanent traffic calming measures. 

Voted 3-2 to shoot down a proposed resolution sponsored by Vice Mayor Anderson and Mayor Lago that called for a special election to be held on Nov. 5 to ask residents whether the city charter should be amended to require the hiring on an inspector general to investigate allegations of corruption made by Commissioner Kirk Menendez. Commissioners Melissa Castro, Fernandez, and Menendez voted against the resolution, with the former claiming it would “bypass” the Charter Review Committee. “It’s time for the voters to speak. It’s time… [to] stop delaying the process that will bring transparency and clarity to our city and restore the trust of the voters in our Commission,” said Anderson. Lago added, “Why not just address the issue?… If the Charter Review Committee makes the recommendation, it has to come for ratification through the Commission anyways…. Let’s not waste time until November.”