News & Notes
May 2019
Push For Independents
“How can you prevent 3.6 million registered Florida voters from voting in the primaries?” That is the question, says Coral Gables business leader and philanthropist Mike Fernandez, which led him to support the All Voters Vote campaign to allow independents to pull the lever in the early Democratic and Republican contests. Fernandez is ponying up $10 million to amend the Florida constitution to permit “the people in the middle” to participate in the primaries. Fernandez says he expects to have 200,000 signatures by mid-May, and another 800,000 by December, to put the change on the ballot by 2020. It would not go into effect until 2024, however, “to give cover to those already in office,” says Fernandez.
The Power to Vote
Speaking of voting, it does seem sad that a mere 26 percent of Coral Gables’ registered voters could decide the recent April elections. But that was the turnout – just 8,519 of the city’s 33,000 registered voters. For the run-off between Ralph Cabrera and Jorge Fors Jr. for the Group IV commission seat, the turnout was even slimmer: just 15 percent. On the other hand, it means that only those who really, really care come out.
Some Recognition
They say you are never a prophet in your home town. So we are pleased to see that W. Allen Morris (above), the developer behind the iconic Alhambra Towers, recently received the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. At least it was some recognition for the man who submitted plans 24 times to the Gables City Commission to rebuild the city’s parking lots on Andalusia, only to be finally turned down.
How They See Us
“Colossal only begins to describe Marc Anthony’s recently acquired waterfront mansion in Coral Gables, Florida,” begins the description of the singer’s manse on the “Essential Guide for Men” website The Manual. The article compares it to homes owned by J-Lo and A-Rod in Malibu, Beyoncé and Jay-Z in the Hamptons, and Oprah on an island off Washington State. The article says Anthony paid $19 million for the house last year, “the largest sum ever paid for a single-family home in the community.” Clearly they don’t know the Gables. The highest price was fetched in 2017: $43 million. And this year a home was listed at $68 million.