UPDATED: Well, that didn’t take long.
True to his campaign talk, newly-elected Commissioner Ariel Fernandez has moved to dismiss City Manager Peter Iglesias. He has put a discussion on the May 9 commission agenda “regarding the termination of the city manager.”
Fernandez, who won with nearly 60% of the vote, has had issues with the city manager for months, if not years. But he says he is fulfilling the wishes of the voters.
“The message I’ve gotten from the residents is pretty clear: They want a new direction for the city,” Fernandez told Political Cortadito. Isn’t that what the new commission is for?
“Yes, but you need a city manager that doesn’t have his own personal agenda,” Fernandez said. He points to a recent visit by Iglesias to the planning and zoning board to request height and density increases on a city parking lot — without commission direction. “Nobody told him to do that,” he said.
Fernandez met with Iglesias for more than two hours Tuesday and gave him an opportunity to step down. Iglesias told him he served at the will of the commission. He told Ladra he has the votes to stay.
“I think I’m doing a good job,” Iglesias told Ladra. “I work at the direction of the commission. If the commission wants to fire me, they’ll fire me.”
Read related: City commission victories in Coral Gables show Mayor Vince Lago is weak
But that’s not all Fernandez wants. The government and campaign consultant — who has suspended publishing the popular Gables Insider blog — has hit the ground running full speed ahead with an ambitious first meeting that addresses other issues he campaigned on.
“None of these items should be a surprise to anyone,” Fernandez said.
He wants to scrap the “mobility hub,” a $63 million redevelopment of a parking garage with electric vehicle charging stations and a launch pad for Amazon drones. He wants to require people who go before the city with zoning applications or bids or proposals to disclose any campaign contributions they’ve made. And he wants city commissioners, not the city manager, to appoint members of the Board of Architects.
“If residents are truly the ones in charge, their elected representatives should be the ones appointing the Board of Architects,” Fernandez said, adding that all the current members are from outside the city. “Several architects on the campaign trail said they had applied and never heard back,” he added.
The disclosure on campaign donations is just “an extra level of transparency,” Fernandez said.
And scrapping the mobility hub has been one of his campaign promises. “Do we really need a $63 million glorified parking garage,” he asks, adding that it will cost $100 million by the time it’s finished.
Fernandez agrees that the parking garage “needs a refresh.” But he says it averages 100 vacant spaces a day and that there is no need to redevelop and expand it. Most egregious, he says, is the park on the roof. “You’re opening doors for developers’ green space to be on the roof,” Fernandez said. “They can say, ‘I’m going to do it now because you did it.'”
Read related: New Coral Gables Commissioners Ariel Fernandez, Melissa Castro are sworn in
A petition with 1,600 resident signatures against the project was dismissed by the mayor as a small number. Tell that to Commissioner Kirk Menendez, who won in 2021 by 350 votes.
This first meeting for Fernandez and newly-elected Commissioner Melissa Castro — who were sworn in on Friday — is going to be long. Did Fernandez bite off more than he can chew?
“Why wait? You have to start somewhere,” Fernandez said. “And when you have a mandate, you have to lead with a mandate.”
Iglesias was hired in 2016 as an assistant city manager and was promoted to his position in 2018 after Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark was chased away after a protracted battle with the popular police chief and several residents. Prior to that, Iglesias worked in senior positions at the city of Miami in Building, Planning and Zoning and Information Technology. Las malas lenguas blame him for bringing a slew of former Miami city employees to the Gables payroll. A University of Miami graduate with a Bachelor of Science in engineering, Iglesias was recently named Engineer of the Year by the Association of Cuban American Engineers (ACAE) for his efforts to advance the role of engineers.
Fernandez said he doesn’t have anyone in mind for the top administrative position and would want to do a national search. “I’d like to bring somebody fresh who has no ties to local developers,” he said.
Assistant City Manager Alberto Parjus would likely serve as interim.
The city manager oversees a $195-million operating budget and a $220-million capital plan and leads 1,100 employees in a city of a more than 51,000 residents. She or he reports to the mayor and four city commissioners, not just the mayor as some might think.
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Gables Resident, you are right it’s ugly as heck, but cost is a major issue too. $60+ million for a parking garage when the parking director has said there’s plenty of parking in the area????
According to the mayor we don’t have money laying around. Does anyone wonder where the new massive development tax revenue goes? Has anyone seen how drastically home prices have skyrocketed? What about the construction boom and all the permit fees? $$$$$$$
It must be the salary increases, executive benefits, overrunning construction budgets, buying equipment we don’t need, outsourcing legal work, oh, and setting aside millions for the mobility hub. No money for sidewalks and potholes people!
The problem with the mobility hub isn’t the cost. It is an ugly futuristic eyesore that does not at all match with the traditional Mediterranean and neoclassical architectural styles you find in the Gables. It would be a monstrous, ugly, destruction of natural sight lines and aesthetics which define the Gables.
No Joke or better yet Ms. Diana Gomez, you have the fiduciary responsibility to the City and should have hold the line by saying “No”.
Don’t try to misdirect the attention to Peter Iglesias. Remember, you got the former Human Resources, Elsa Jaramillo-Velez, fired by saying that the Temporary Employee Agency was utilized without the proper funding in place. In actuality, you told her that you would give her the funding.
Tony,
If the City Manager, and others were able to get pay raises orchestrated by the Finance Director not approved by the Commission, what makes you think that Peter Iglesias will follow the rules regarding Zoning Changes.
Also, apparently you are not a Gables resident or simply don’t care. Not only has Peter Iglesias brought staff from the City of Miami. The staff are corrupted.
If anyone were to investigate the history between the blogger and the Manager, it would be clearly apparent what this is about. Mr. Fernandez is recognized as being among the worst of residents – rude to all he dealt with in the City and possessing an off the charts sense of entitlement. If you do your homework, you will see that Mr. Fernandez felt slighted by the Manager, when Iglesias would not cave to Fernandez’s incessant disrespectful brow beating.
This is also the case with the Police Chief, who Fernandez is also targeting. All of this is easily observed in the public record for anyone wanting to see the full picture. This is not about a message from the residents – a message that the “Insider” self-servingly fomented in his blog intended to incite by way of disinformation, half-truths, and conspiracy theories.
The self-service continues in your interview. I highly doubt Mr. Iglesias would pursue zoning changes to a city owned property “without commission direction.” After all the negative messaging in the blogosphere with non-stop fire from Fernandez during the height of campaign season, it is hard to think that Mr. Iglesias, an experienced public servant, would do something like this. But, here is Fernandez casting allegations that Iglesias is pursuing a “personal agenda.” This ignores the fact that, ultimately, even if Iglesias did this out of the blue, all zoning changes ultimately require commission approval.
Regarding the mobility hub, everyone is focused on the cost. Is it $63 Million or $100 Million? How does one get all the way up to $100 Million? Has anyone looked at the benefit of an asset that generates significant ongoing revenue which would service the debt and shorten the payback period? An honest analysis would consider this. The fact is that a replacement garage is needed. The existing one is outdated, inefficient, and has outlived its useful life. A “refresh” would be a band-aid. It would be shortsighted to kick this can down the road. It is easy to use this as a political hammer against the Manager. As Fernandez misguidedly hammers the Manager, he also hammers the community’s thumb. Online petitions “signed” by individuals that are not fully informed should mean little when it comes to making grown up decisions. Moreover, calling an unverifiable online poll a petition stretches the truth to the point of failure. Let us look at this honestly.
Ladra, Iglesias may have brought staff from Miami. I am sure he brought in staff from other Cities, as well. Who cares where they are from as long as they are competent. Sadly, the Miami style politics have really arrived at Coral Gables during this election cycle and Fernandez has had a large hidden hand in it using his blog as an attack platform.
Before the City of Coral Gables is nuked by elected leaders that have not even sat at the podium for one full meeting, will the grown-ups in the room please stand and act responsibly?
There’s a new sheriff in town … while the old sheriff wallows in his multiple losses.
The Truth – you’re misdirecting your anger. The Finance Director cannot give those raises without City Manager, hence Iglesias approval.
There is nothing smart about the mobility hub
Forty, 60 or even 100 million dollars to spend on a “mobility hub” sounds utterly frivolous when a fraction of that money can be earmarked to restore the many historic landmarks that are in a state of decades-old deterioration such as the Alhambra Water Tower, City Hall, and others.
Which brings me to another point. Why is the city so set on bringing this project to fruition when one, the residents overwhelmingly oppose the project. [Yes, an online petition opposing the hub garnered close to 2000 signatures]; And two, the city’s rationale for tearing down
Municipal Garage 1 at 245 Andalusia, a three-level concrete building with 282 spaces, in order to build a 10-story “mobility hub” garage with 626 spaces is flawed. The city claims there is not enough parking to serve the downtown area thus the need to add three times as many parking spaces. However, a month-long observation to determine parking needs at Garage 1 disputes this claim. The daily numbers gathered show plenty of availability with an average vacancy rate of between 150 and 200 spaces. Conclusion: Garage 1 basically sits empty as per the data recorded.
Finale point. The proposed garage/mobility hub needs to be parked long term. Not only for its escalating costs and questionnable rationale, but also for its environmental unsustainable consequences.
Demolishing the existing garage is environmentally antiquated in today’s world. A demolition of the present structure to make way for future new construction is proven to hurt the environment exponentially. An excerpt from the National Trust for Historic Preservation puts in context how new construction adversely affects our planet:
“Arguments that promote a practice of disposable real estate are unsustainable at best and at worst environmentally catastrophic. New buildings…will likely never offset the carbon cost of their construction. We don’t have time to simply build our way to a sustainable future.”
Stewardship of our planet starts with preserving what already exists. The city should embrace the concept of adaptive reuse [the process of reusing an existing building and adapting it to meet new needs] when considering new projects and their effects on a sustainable future.
The 10-story garage/mobility hub, referred to as a “Smart City solution,” is far from a solution. There is nothing smart about this project.
Alberto Parjus would be a much better option than Pete Iglesias. He’s got a different set of skills, but one that would fit the current needs of our City better. Having worked with him for years, I can attest to that.
Also: the Chief of Police promised he would resign if Ariel Fernandez won his commission seat. Now it’s time for him to walk the talk. And if he doesn’t want to, then he needs to be nudged in the right direction (i.e.: firing his *ss).
Vertical Growing is Not For “The City Beautiful ” See The Transit Problems on Miami an Hialeah And The STUPIDITY of Bike Friendly Lanes Like HANOI !
Ay, ay, ay Albertico… You haven’t learned anything? Again at it with your diatribe about the free meals? I guess that’s all you have… At least if you are going to bash someone, try to stick to facts. Do you have any proof of the free meals or other freebies, like you said? We’ll wait.
Thank You, Ariel. a) for acting on your campaign platform; b) for doing what has clearly been needed for months if not years. Iglesias runs the city as his personal fiefdom, complete disregard for citizens. complete! long overdue for him step down you have our complete support! other commisioners will defend this guy, which only shows how disconnected they are. There is no track record of accomplishments by Iglesias in Coral Gables. send a signal to all city staff that same-old, same-old wont cut it anymore. Taax paying citizens in CG get treted by staff as nuisances. Enough!
Ariel Fernandez has ZERO experience in retail store work, management, ownership, or property ownership.
He is trying to kill Miracle Mile, by killing its parking.
Please see my following videos:
Defense of the Mobility Hub, Part 1. 5-2-23
https://youtu.be/-QpHI83hqvk
Defense of the Mobility Hub, Part 2. 5-2-23
https://youtu.be/nn_3vKmDkhY
Time for political vendettas by Ariel who would not take money from developers, but would take free meals from any restaurant, or free tickets to events. Regardless of the source of freebie, it is always corruption.
Now is the time for our residents to seize the moment and take back our City Beautiful! Stop the complaining and make it happen. Start by contacting all the elected officials and let them know that enough is enough; that we want to be heard. Tell the ones that kept saying that they couldn’t do everything they were elected to do because they didn’t have the votes, that now they can make it happen. All they have to do is vote with the ones proposing the needed changes to set the City on a new direction!
And on Monday speak up at the Town Hall meeting. Let the Commissioners and the City administration know what the residents want. Make sure that you put this opportunity to good use. Stop the “smoke and mirrors;” and make our City really transparent.
Finally, Tuesday attend the first Commission Meeting under the new “Commission.” Show them that we really meant it when we said we wanted our voices heard and most importantly that we will be watching them.
No more excuses, make George Merrick proud!
” She must be fired! ‘
With an actual City Attorney and actual DA she might even be prosecuted but Miami has neither and the envelope is always pushed due to this.
Miami will one day have one city officials for every 100 resident and the top brass making more money then top Doctors with of course the standard Miami zero accountability.
Coral Gables seems to have the desire to fight back , I do not see this in most Miami cities.
Next should be the Finance Director, clean the house!
Let see if Ariel Fernandez is really serious about fiscal responsibility. He know that the Finance Director Diana Gomez gave the City Manager, Police Chief, Fire Chief and herself substantial pay raises not authorized by the City Commission. He needs to place an agenda item to reduce their respective salaries by at least 20%. Afterwards, he needs to inquire on the SEC Investigation involving Diana Gomez when she was Finance Director over in the City of Miami. She cooked the books along with the CFO Larry Springs. She needs to resign or be terminated. If the latter, she should not be allowed to collect her pension, which she oversees on behalf of the City.
She must be fired! The Coral Gables residents are watching and expecting something to happen!
Wow as of now this man seems great .
To the credit of the residents Coral Gables is truly Helms Deep .
Hialeah , Sweet Water , Doral due to zero political standards and / or apathy fell a long time ago.
# Helm’s Deep was a powerful fortress in the book / movie Lord of the Rings defended by an alliance of men and elves against the evil Orcs . It was the last remaining stronghold #
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXC-jJhFaUI
It’s about time to get riddance of the cancer plague that has been festering the city beautiful. The lack of transparency has not served the coral gables community well. Over the years coral gables has kept issues silent and thus has lead to complete corruption of the city’s resources. The media is back full force informing our city patrons that media silence leads to ignorance. It’s time to take back our city government and distribute its wealth to services that keep our community strong and healthy for the best interest of the citizens. Go Ariel, clean house!!!
Hopefully the Chief is next.