Q&A with New Commissioner Richard Lara

Q: What have your first few weeks on the job been like?

The first weeks have been exhilarating. I have felt a very strong and widespread response from the residents on how happy they are about the outcome of this election; a pronounced sense of hope and positive energy for what lies in front of us. It’s exhilarating and overwhelming in a way that I could never have anticipated.

Q: Your first Commission meeting was quite eventful, with a lot of momentous legislation being passed. What was that like?

It was eventful, but also not surprising because what was decided at that meeting was what I had campaigned on for over a year and a half, and what the vice mayor and the mayor have been wanting for almost two years. So, day one, for the most part, was promises made and delivered.

And it’s not just that substantive decisions were made. Another major point of my platform was a return to civility, respect, efficiency, and a business-like approach. You could really only understand this by observing the meeting… there was a different tone. There were measured responses to the items and each Commissioner had an opportunity to provide a concise statement or pose questions. It really was, as I had hoped and promised, a return to that type of forum, and decidedly not what we had experienced during the last two years.

Q: You delivered on a lot of promises immediately. Do you have any other ideas for legislation already in the works?

 I would like to focus on solutions to parking and traffic calming during my first year, and that takes working with a lot of different people, not just in City Hall. Budgetary concerns are also something I campaigned on and people told me was important to them, so I’m working very closely with the city manager, the finance department, and the residents to understand how we can deliver the world-class services that residents deserve and are entitled to, but in such a way that we don’t put the city in any kind of peril. Every dollar collected from a taxpayer is part of a sacred trust that we have as stewards of the taxpayers’ money.

On a more social level, I am interested in elevating cultural arts in the city. I would like to see more awareness raised for the Coral Gables Museum. And as a graduate of Coral Gables Senior High School, I want to form a more focused liaison relationship with the city and our amazing high school. And lastly, we’ve got to figure out better ways to enhance biking and walking in the city while addressing traffic calming so that it’s safe for people to do so.

Q: How has your experience in law informed your first few weeks on the job?

I have over 25 years of having to take on complex issues that no matter how much you prepare in advance for, things just arise on the fly. It’s just decades of being prepared but then thinking on your feet and never forgetting what the arc is that you’re trying to achieve and staying on that course…. I think that those skills lend themselves very well to being in a Commission that, at this point, I’m sensing there is still division in. It’s not a surprise. It’s why I decided to run…. There is obviously an unfamiliarity with some of the practices, procedures, and protocols of being on the dais, but not about the business that needs to get done.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of so far?

The one that I feel is going to have the longest-lasting impact is moving the elections to November. It’s one of the reasons I decided to run. My runoff election was the largest in the history of Coral Gables, and I’m convinced that that outpouring of voter engagement is not because they wanted more of the same. With a larger turnout, you will undoubtedly get a more accurate representation of what the electorate wants in their governance. It took quite a bit to get there, but I’m convinced that the will of the people was honored and executed.