The debate ended in September, when the new majority on the Coral Gables Commission — Melissa Castro, Ariel Fernandez and Kirk Menendez — voted to keep the Election Day in the City Beautiful in April on odd years rather than move it to the general election on even years.
Commissioners also voted unanimously to create a charter review committee that would consider such changes in a more complete and inclusive way. That committee had an organizational meeting but has yet to tackle any of the issues that will be put before them.
So who’s collecting signatures to change the election date without any action by the charter review committee?
Read related: Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago loses majority, Election Day November move
A resident sent Ladra the image of this petition and said that someone had actually knocked on her door to get her signature. The guy was from Long Island, New York, and said he was getting paid to collect signatures. The voter ran into him later at the corner of LeJeune Road and Alhambra and asked how it was going. Not too well, he told her.
That’s probably because most people want the elections to stay the way they are. They wrote emails and came out against it when it was proposed last year. They don’t like the idea that the powers that be, the establishment that was beaten by voters in the last election, are the first in line to make this change precisely so that people like Fernandez and Castro have a harder time getting elected.
Just listen to this video interview of former Gables Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli.
To be sure, RVF has always been a jerk. But this is a new low.
Is Valdes-Fauli behind the petition? Or others like him? Someone has to have paid the gentleman collecting the signatures.
Mayor Vince Lago, who lobbied hard for the November general date, has a balance of $550,000 sitting in his political action committee, Coral Gables First. He also has the attitude and arrogance to bypass the charter review board.
“They’re in the process of meeting. They’re going to take community input,” Menendez told Ladra. He didn’t know about the petition and seemed to be taken aback. “If the charter review committee did a petition, I think we would have heard about it,” he said.
Menendez initially voted in favor of the change to November on even years, but he asked for the second reading to be delayed a bit so that residents would have a chance to be heard. He switched his vote to no after the item was put on the agenda right away.
Read related: Coral Gables moves quickly to move city elections from April to November
“That’s the way to do it,” Menendez said of the resident-board. “That gives an opportunity for public input and then they can come back with a rationale instead of just rushing it through.”
His appointment to the board is Tom Wells. Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson, who was also in favor of the change, appointed former State Rep. Annie Betancourt. Castro appointed Jane Moscowitz. Lago appointed former Mayor Don Slesnick. And Fernandez appointed Felix Pardo.
The five will have their first public town hall meeting at 6 p.m. March 21 in Commission Chambers at City Hall.
If you like what you’re reading and want more Coral Gables in your Fresh Colada, let Ladra know with a donation to Political Cortadito.
“This seems to be something to go around the charter review process,” Fernandez told Ladra after we told him about the petition. “The question is who’s funding this campaign and what are the motives behind it.
“This just shows the establishment and special interests continue to push the narrative and try to keep the power they have at City Hall.”
It also shows that Lago and his camp don’t know when to stand down.
Someone’s collecting petitions to move Coral Gables election date to November added by Ladra on
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Notice the people going door to door with the petition are PAID. Who has the money to do that?
Lago et al want the November election because those who don’t make the effort to learn about the candidates or the issues will just check the box because it’s there. They will vote for the candidate with most name recognition which will be the one with the most fliers, paid people to go door to door, most signs etc, that is the best funded by developer money. Low funded candidates won’t stand a chance because they are funded mostly by individuals, families, small businesses and rely on volunteers. Follow the link in this article to Lago’s PAC. You’ll see all the developer money. Of course you’ll have to do some research to see many different donor entities are from the same developer.
November elections still have low voter turnout. Just because November turnout might not be as low does not make the results “more valid.” The results are valid either way.
It would be great if every registered voter learned and voted on the issues in every election. They don’t. Instead the Red and Blue Team members, all fanatics, each vote for their guy/gal while hoping the enemies of the people on the other team die. If you’re on the winning side, you don’t care if it was by 5 votes with 25% voter turnout or 5 million votes with 95% voter turnout; you feel validated and happily give your enemies the middle finger. Meanwhile our country as a whole continues spinning down the toilet, the border is broken, and totalitarianism and environmental destruction continue to spread worldwide, all while our children prepare to assume their inheritance from us: a smoldering planet, charred by the sun, polluted by forever chemicals, decimated by extreme weather, and suffering ever-increasing scarcity of clean drinking water, healthy food, clean air, and safety. I don’t give a shit who’s in power or which team won. None of us is blameless for the way things are now; elections in November or April ain’t gonna change a god-damned thing, and that’s why people have to show up and make intelligent, informed decisions in the voting booth every single election.
A guy showed up at my house with this petition this past weekend. We spoke briefly and I told him I was not interested in signing because (1) I disagree with it and (2) I thought the issue had been resolved already. I guess it’s back like the Clap.
Ladra, Raul was an excellent major. Just because you disagree with his policy does not give you the right to insult him.
I disagree with you on many issues and at times I feel like calling you an idiot, imbecile, third-grade journalist dropout, who could not make it as a genuinely respected journalist, but I won’t. Because I do not have that right.
The majority of Coral Gables residents do NOT want to keep the elections as they are so that incompetent or solely Interested in getting free money and cars from taxpayers in low turnout elections.
The 3 stooges on the Coral Gables commission are a disgrace.
Democracy is about voting – the more votes, the more people have selected you to represent them.
Any other view reflects autocracy, NOT democracy!!
C’mon, Vinny.. give it up. It’s getting sad. Know when to say when. I wish you were this persistent with us, the residents, on the issues that matter the most.
If most people want the election the way it is, why not put it in the ballot and have them vote for or against it. It should not be the commissioners’ decision,
Residents of Coral Gables are getting tired of the political manipulations of officials elected in low turnaround elections.
Having the city elections in November will ensure that a broad electoral base will elect city officials, reflecting the desires of the broad Coral Gables population.
Who would be against it ? Only those willing to manipulate election results, through activism in low turnaround elections. Then, once elected, they can move their personal agendas, in the name of all residents.
The best way to protect the City is to have elections when the majority of residents are ready and capable of choosing the people who reflect their aspirations.