City Commission - Regular Meeting

Good morning. I'd like to welcome everyone. Thank you for being here to the August 25th, 2026 Commission meeting. As I've stated at every Commission meeting that we're blessed to be here at, this is a great opportunity for not only residents and business owners, but for employees to have the opportunity to speak We appreciate your guidance. We appreciate your support throughout the process. There's many opportunities to speak either in person, either at the beginning of the commission meeting during public comment, or as every item continues forward. Remember, once you speak on an item, whethe

Moving on. To start off this morning, we have a very special invocation. I'd like to welcome our Assistant Fire Chief, Xavier Jones. Good morning, sir. Welcome to the city, beautiful. Not that you need to be welcome, but I think it's an opportunity to see you once again in a very different role that maybe people don't know I know about this role. If people don't follow you on social media, I highly recommend that you do. It's truly a pleasure to have you here with your vocation.

Thank you, Chief, Assistant Chief. It's always an honor to have you here in a different role today. Moving forward, this is something that, again, is incredibly important to everyone in this community. We're going to be, again, moving forward with the Pledge of Allegiance. I'd like to represent our Sergeant Marcos de Rosa to do the Pledge of Allegiance. It's an honor to have Marcos de Rosa with us today to lead us in the pledge. Sergeant Marcos de Rosa is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran who served for 12 years. Thank you, sir. Including during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Sto

As we celebrate our America semi-contennial moment, Sergeant, please give us a little background in regards to your prestigious and illustrious career.

Thank you, sir. We have a small token of appreciation. Again, we will always fall short no matter what we give you or how we honor you. But this is a show of gratitude on behalf of the city of Coral Gables, the commission, our city manager, city attorney, city clerk, all the employees. If I'd like to give you the small coin, if I may step up.

I may have a personal point of privilege. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the heartbreaking loss of four people with deep ties to the Coral Gables community. Adam Havoletti, Henry Parra, Roger Duarte, who were Coral Gables residents, and Jose Alberto Suarez, who grew up here. They were among those who tragically lost their lives in the helicopter crash in Kenya last week. Each of them made their own impact. And today, I want to remember the lives They lived and the many ways they contributed to and enriched our amazing community. Adam and Henry were Coral Gables residents and life partn

As we all know, hunger is something that many of us don't have to experience, but it's important that we recognize those that are and do what we can to cause an impact to reduce it. Whereas since 1981, Feeding South Florida has worked to address hunger and food insecurity by providing our community with immediate access to nutritious food and other vital resources and support. And whereas hunger does not discriminate, It knows no race, religion, or age. In South Florida, approximately 1 million individuals face hunger. And food should not be an impossible choice for the community. And whereas

Come on up. Come on forward. Please join us at the podium. Thank you for joining us.

Well, thank you. Thank you for our work on behalf of the most needy in our community, and we're blessed to have you here every single year. Thank you very much. Take a photo.

Yeah, take a photo. And through the mayor, I just ask that perhaps through our city news, we can inform people of how they can make donations to Feeding South Florida and make people aware of this is Hunger Action Month. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Perfect. Take a photo. Sergeant, I apologize. Please join us once again. Sergeant DeRosa.

Thank you, Sergeant. Do we have any members? I see one of members of the Honor Guard here. Let's take a photo.

Moving on to item A2, congratulations to Firefighter Wilfredo Gonzalez, recipient of the City of Coral Gables Firefighter of the Month Award for the month of August 2026. Chief, good morning.

Good morning, everyone. Morning. I want to thank everybody for having me here today.

Well done. Well done. Well done. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Again, even when you're not in the city of Coral Gables, helping our residents and our business community, you're setting the example. Again, thank you. Because if it wasn't for you at that moment, who knows where that individual would be alive today. Well, thank you for representing us with class and dignity as always. God bless you. Thank you. Let's take a photo. And moving on to our final presentation of the morning before we go on to our first time certain item which will be f1 Item a three congratulations to detective

Wait, gee, that's not the first time. Can I please have a motion in regards to B1, regular city commission meeting, approval of minutes July 7, 2026? I'll move it.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Thank you. Moving on to public comment.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. All right, moving on to the first item on the agenda, which is time certain.

Public comment. Jackson Homes. Can we please close the agenda for a second time? Yes. Thank you.

Thank you. Moving on to item F1, times certain.

Thank you, Madam Director. Thank you for your hard work on this. Madam Chair, it's always great to have you, as I mentioned in the beginning. It's truly a pleasure. You always not only answer my calls, but you answer everyone's call, and you're front and center in ensuring that we have the best public schools, the best school system in South Florida by far, head and shoulders. And I wanted to commend you also. I spent some time with the principal at Carver the other day. Patricia Faircloth, excuse me, I apologize, a longtime friend who also was the vice mayor in Homestead. She did an amazing j

Close, right there. But let me tell you, it's a lot better than when I started here 14 years ago and before you took over. So a lot of this, a lot of this, all of this, again, our work is, and these accomplishments are because of your hard work and your amazing staff that's here, your amazing staff and the teachers and the parents who obviously play a major role. So I just want to commend you for always being there because one of the things that the principal said at Carver was that you're front and center. We're talking about you and that's one of the things that we agreed upon most. And I wa

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. It's always an honor to have you here. Madam Principal. Thank you for your hard work. Again, I would like, I know you have prepared comments that you want to talk about Phillips Park and our collaborative efforts like the director mentioned before. But I want you to also talk a little bit about the accomplishments of the school. We don't tout enough. And that's one of the reasons why I sponsored this item because When I found out from staff that this had not been around since 2019, and we were about to make this significant investment in Phyllis Park, and it's

That's a nice pitch, but this is a good deal for everybody. Tell everybody out there.

The best of the best are coming here in our city. Whether you want to send your kids to private school, to charter, public school, it's just as good, if not better of an option for an education. And one of the last comments that I want to make, and I make this every time when I spoke in front of the teachers the other day at Carver when they were doing Their retreat, which was an amazing event, by the way. Thank you, the school board, for doing that for the teachers in preparation for an amazing school year. I told them, teachers spend more time than we do with our kids. Literally. It may not

Thank you for all you do, and I just wanted to highlight, and I've delayed this to the next agenda meeting, there is going to be a presentation on Miami-Dade Public Schools so more people are aware of the excellent options that are available. As I've said before to folks, I was a product of public schools, so were my girls, and they made a fantastic start. You have so many choices in public schools now. But if you have the information at your fingertips, which next month's presentation will hopefully provide, you'll know that if you want to focus on robotics versus IB program and have college

We have a second. Thank you. Well, before I second it, I wanted to welcome you as well, Marte Terez Rojas, the chair of Miami-Dade School Board. And also, I want to welcome you as well and congratulate you for the amazing work you've done. So I can't add much more to what my colleagues have said, other than just to put it very simply, that it's a beautiful thing when the City Beautiful collaborates with the Miami-Dade County School Board in helping polish even more such a A brilliant diamond. Coral Gables Prep is an amazing institution. And another little point of personal privilege, right? I

Thank you very much we have a motion a second do we have any public comment, yes, Mister mayor and Maria Cruz.

ALL RIGHT. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.

Mayor Lago? Yes. Thank you to our team, to the school board. Thank you for your hard work. This is a long time coming since 2019. We're very excited about the agreement, and we look forward to a collaborative effort to deliver world-class opportunities for the kids and also for the residents here. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Before we move on to item F4, consent agenda. May I have a motion?

Thank you. Okay. Next item on the agenda is item F4. Before we move on, we'll take a five-minute break, bathroom break. Thank you very much. And to make sure we can address a little bit of the issues that we have here with the time clock. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Well, you did bring the Michigan one.

Welcome back. Tried to make that bathroom break as short as possible. Thank you to IT. Thank you to IT for clearing up the microphone issues and the timer issue. We got it back on. That's why you guys are the best in the business. Thank you. Item F4, Madam City Attorney.

Okay. Madam City Attorney, before we move forward, can you, just for clarity, even though it is a public record and it will be pulled, just for the people who are not going to pull public records, it's the same compensation as the current City Attorney, correct?

Thank you very much. Okay. Before we discuss the appointment of our new City Manager, I want to take a moment to recognize my dear friend, Peter Iglesias. Let me start again. Before we discuss the appointment of our new city manager, I want to take a moment to recognize my dear friend, Peter Iglesias, and thank him for his extraordinary service. I was proud to help bring Peter back to the city, and I can say without hesitation that he is one of the most capable, let me correct myself, I apologize, he is the most capable dedicated and accomplished public servant I have ever had the opportunity

And it's the same thing I tell my father. And if there's one man that I can compare my father to, it's you. And if you know my father, which you do, and how highly I speak about my father, there's not many people who can hold a candle to my father. So I want to move on a little bit now to talk about Joe Gomez. Mr. Gomez, will you please step up? I believe that we're incredibly fortunate to have someone of Joe Gomez's caliber already here and ready to lead. Joe knows Coral Gables. He knows our team. He knows the projects on the way. And most importantly, he understands this community and the hi

Get off Joe and come back. Come on. Let's enjoy the moment here. It's all right. We got it, man.

Let me explain to you. People don't got it. Trust me. Because people got their news from blogs and stuff like that that they don't understand it. Okay? Why don't you pan back to me? Pan back to me. Pan back to me, Billy. Mr. Clerk.

No, I can keep going. Just keep going. By the way, it doesn't end. Mr. Mayor, it's a long agenda, sir. I know, I know. Thank you, Billy. This is worth the wait. Remember, don't forget, this is the public record that was used last time in the campaign against me. And obviously it failed miserably because we won by 19%. This is what public service is all about. This is residents contacting me, then me contacting the DCM. What are these? Simple issues. My garbage wasn't picked up. I have a code enforcement issue. Somebody parked on my yard. You know, I have an issue with traffic. I have an issue

But maybe I won't stop. Maybe we'll keep going for a little bit longer. It's all right. All right. So... Like I said before, that is called work ethic. That is called determination. And that is called putting the job first, putting the residents first. It doesn't matter what time of day, whether it's a weekend or a holiday. Like I said, if I text or email Joe, I hear back from him immediately. He is incredibly responsive. He works hard and he takes ownership. Even if it wasn't our fault, we take ownership. That level of commitment is something I value tremendously, and it's something that's de

Thank you very much. Thank you for being here with us. Richard Cooper. Mr. Cooper, I mean, I know you're a resident. I love it. I love that you're here.

Mr. Abreu, good morning. It's a pleasure to have you here.

Mr. Abreu, first and foremost, thank you. Like I said to Mr. Cooper, who were here, it's a breath of fresh air to have you. I did not know that you were attending today. Will you do me a favor for those listening? Will you tell people your background and what you've done in this community? I know you don't want to brag, but can you tell people too? Because it's important because you're making statements about the DCM and I want people to understand the level of professionalism and who you are and where you came from and what you've achieved. Please. It's kind of awkward, Mayor, but I know what

Thank you, sir. Margarita Heidi. Good morning. Thank you for being with us.

Thank you Mister God, thank you. That's it was where I will close the public comment on this is anyone else like that. Perfect will close with a comment. I think the motion.

So I do have a few comments. Like you, Mayor, I've tried to convince Peter Iglesias to stay a little longer, and it's not because Joe Gomez is not qualified, but as I referred to the three people that we have in the city manager's office working together, we had the aid team. We had seamless... cohesive people working together, highly qualified and highly responsive. And so many times when I reached out to get something done and I didn't want to bother the city manager who was handling the budget and much deeper projects that we didn't want to interfere with, I reached out to Joe. People ask m

THIS IS AN INTERESTING WOW, THAT'S PRETTY LOUD. THE MICROPHONE. THIS IS AN INTERESTING RESOLUTION AND IT'S REALLY A SHAME THAT THE MAYOR COULDN'T GRANT ME THE RESPECT. to go ahead and call my item before this one. My item was an item to execute a national search. But getting back to Joe, Joe Gomez was hired by the, according to the mayor, unqualified candidate, city manager, Amos Rojas and Alberto Parajus. And I think they made a great decision because As my colleagues have said, Joe Gomez has been great to work with, not only with them, but with me. But this vote right here is not a vote for

Commissioner. Commissioner Lott, excuse me.

Well, first of all, Thank you for those comments, Commissioner Castro. But I need to correct you. Due process is what you said this vote is about. It is certainly not about due process. Let's be clear, due process is the legal principle that a government cannot deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without following fair procedures and respecting fundamental legal rights. So decidedly, this is not about due process. This is all about making sure that we vote based on competent evidence that we are going to be appointing the best person to be the next city manager for the city of Coral

Mr. Manager, would you like to share a few comments with us? Because I think that if anybody's qualified to talk about the DCM, it's a person who has spent every single day working next door to them as your offices share one wall. And I also want you, I know that today's not your last day. And if it was up to me, like I said before, that's why you can't read what you see on the blogs. I want you to talk a little bit about your time here in the city. Maybe if you want to share it or save it for your last day, that's perfectly fine. But I want to hear your words, if you may, please.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Mr. Clerk, we have a motion and a second.

Yeah, so I want to make this extremely clear. This is not a vote against Joe Gomez. This is a vote for a national search. If a national search was good enough to campaign on, it should be very well good enough to govern by. Promises matter. Process matters. But most importantly, consistency matters. My vote is no.

Some points were made earlier about that there were exigent circumstances that caused someone, well, three former commissioners, one former two currently, to vote without conducting a national search, claiming that it was due to exigent circumstances. Well, I believe then and I believe now that the firing of Peter Iglesias was not only uncalled for, wrongful, it was also an emergency created entirely by a majority of the commission with no support for same. So you can't create the urgencies and then claim that that's the reason why you had to hire a... A former U.S. Marshal with not one day of

My belief is my role here is to do what's in the best interest of our residents and our city. And unequivocally, Selecting Joe Gomez as our next city manager is in the best interest of our city and our residents. So my vote is yes.

I want to do everything I possibly could to avoid an Instagram reel. Because for some reason, I seem to be the person that everybody's running against in the public office. put together I mean that Laura and I worked on for some time speech that talks about the great work that the managers done here along with the amazing work that the DCM and why we have a competent person who's gonna hit the ground running but for some reason politically now it gets caught up in all these ridiculous November election grandstanding I want to remind everybody how we got here. Mr. Clerk, please do the tape.

Do you have anything else to say before I say? Yes, sir. Go ahead.

Do you have anything else to say before I say? Yes. Moving on to item times 1030, H1. Thank you very much.

Solange, I apologize for being a little late on the 1030. I know that we have some individuals here, but thank you. And Belkis and the whole team that's here. Again, thank you very much. Oh, and we have our number one in command at the chamber. Gloria, thank you. And I want to commend you once again for all the hard work and everything you're doing. You've hit the ground running. Congratulations. Congratulations.

Hi, welcome to the City of Beautiful. Hello.

I love it. Do we have any public comment, Mr. Clerk?

Well, thank you very much. Great work. Something exciting. I'm happy that the Chamber's collaborating front and center. Congratulations to the artists and designers. And most importantly, thank you to our amazing team at the City of Coral Gables. Velkies, your team, again, always does a great job. Thank you, Solange, for being front and center on all this. So thank you. Public comment?

So my daughter was just commenting that she wishes there were some more women's clothing stores in or around the Maricopa area. So I'm thinking, yay, this is perfect timing. So again, when is it open?

No worries. Thank you very much. Great job, team. We'll move on now to time certain 1045, E14, and E19.

I'd like to move this and I and have the money directed for the North Flagler District to be able to handle the streetscape there. It's an area that we haven't addressed yet. We've done working on Ponce Phase 3. We need the additional funding for Ponce Phase 4. And being that this is a feeder line, I'll just make a note that it's something that we may need to discuss again in the future, because the size of the poles would have to go in on feeder lines. are much larger than the ones you typically see. And I've seen one, or actually it's two, now put on another set of feeder lines and the neigh

Second. I have just one comment on that front. Currently, this project is using a site down the street as a staging area. I wanted to find out that that staging area is owned by the city. Correct, that lot?

I think there's an empty lot that I've seen when I've driven by. There's an empty lot down the street, Mr. Manager. I'm not sure.

Okay, just to find out, because I want to see obviously when the project is done, I want to Collaborate with the developer to make sure that we leave that site of course I think it's a it's a it's an empty site that we got about a block away from from ashore that we have on that same street.

Okay. Thank you very much. You have a motion to sign a public comment.

MR. GARCIA-CERO? JUST FOR YOUR URGE TO CLEAR THE RECORD BECAUSE I GET DRAGGED INTO EVERYTHING. I DON'T KNOW WHY I WAS BEING DRAGGED INTO THE CONVERSATION. I GUESS IT'S ELECTION SEASON. The money didn't change here, right? The money didn't change. What happened was the scope increased. Correct. Dramatically. And it was not caused by the developer or the city.

Yeah. So I know there's a constant effort here to confuse residents and to blame other people, especially as election season comes in a desperate fashion. the desperation that we see here right now. So I just want to put on the record because people in this community deserve better, especially people here who are not here to defend themselves when they're slandered by somebody else or people just plainly lie on the dais. I think it's more incompetence than actually lying, but Again, at the end of the day, you just can't say you're incompetent and then lie on the record. At the end of the day,

Perfect. Thank you very much. All right. We will go on now to 11 o'clock times certain. We're going to take a two-minute break. Two-minute break. Everyone can use the bathroom, and we'll see you.

Back. Now we move on to items E3, E4, E5, and E17 that are time certain for 11 o'clock. Madam City Attorney.

So the applicant man, I know I'm waiting for the applicant you ready Good morning.

So quick question right now. Where do we stand in regards to the total square footage of the interior of the school?

When you talk about the construction from a vanilla shell, obviously, to a finished product.

I want to make sure that everything is taken care of. Again, we're not talking about ultra luxury, but we've got to talk about products that, again, can withstand the wear and tear of an educational facility. And also, let's talk candidly here in educational facilities with special needs children. So it has to be able to handle certain things a little bit differently.

Is it safe to say that the interior manager rounded off to 7,000 square feet just to round it off to a number? $200, I want to be... CONSERVATIVE $200 A FOOT FOR INTERIORS. I JUST WANT TO QUANTIFY THE UPGRADE IN REGARDS TO WHAT WE'RE REQUESTING, WHAT I REQUESTED FOR THE STUDENTS AT CRYSTAL ACADEMY. YOU THINK THE NUMBER IS GOING TO BE AROUND $1.5 MILLION OF ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION WORK?

I HOPE YOU CAN BUILD IT FOR THAT. IF NOT, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE'S A COMMITMENT IN PLACE THAT IF, AGAIN, WITHIN REASON, within reason and the manager with the time that we have here, I'd like for the manager to engage on that because again, I think that's important to make sure that If we do vote in favor of the project today, that that gets addressed. This is a project where I think it needs to last for the next 30 years. It needs to be something that, again, uses a level of quality. I'm not talking about luxury. What I'm talking about is just the wear and tear, the durability. And you're

Thank you, Mr. Manager. If your team, again, depending on what happens today, could work hand-in-hand, obviously, with a manager on that interior, I'm not talking about the rest of the project. I'm just talking about just that piece of the project for me is incredibly important. I want to make sure that we deliver something exceptional. And at the end of the day, not only am I proud of it and the city's proud of it, but that you're proud of it. Thank you.

Thank you very much. You want to have questions after both are presented, or do you want to do it now? I just want to make sure we hear from both sides.

If we're going to have a conversation, let's let the Vice Mayor go first.

Quick statement. I did have a question for you. Maybe this will help resolve some issues. We did talk about residential parking permits. Were you able to include that with I can t you have a historic building there. Residential parking permit signs.

Yeah, and in particular, these historic buildings have no place else to park but the street, so I'd appreciate you taking that up and help alleviate an issue there. And your commitment to take care of the hardwood trees, I'll just highlight for the record, too, that our staff has designated additional trees on the Phoenicia side to be moved into the public realm. I know you have it covered, but I just want to make sure that the The public knows that the healthy gumbo limbo's are items that the our staff has requested to be moved into the public area and preserve those as well. And then there's

Since this is a quasi-judicial item, I want to go ahead and city attorney put on the record that there has been ex-party communications.

No, no. I mean, everything's a public record. It's been mostly emails.

Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our zoning director, please. Oh, I'm sorry.

Mr. Wells, excuse me. That is not relevant to the issue that we're discussing right now. Please stick to items E3, E4, E5, and E17. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Wells, if I may. Madam City Attorney, will you please inform Mr. Wells?

NEW SPEAKER MR. ATWOOD. NEW SPEAKER SIR GOOD MORNING AND FIRST AND FOREMOST THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

Thank you for being here. Aye, aye, sir. And thank you for your service once again. We're grateful for you.

Sir. Would you please put your address on the record?

Okay. Just for the record, one additional minute from the three minutes. I have no idea what violation of due process that was. We'll move forward.

When was the next person. You want to go back to Mister Fidel.

I didn't hear it. I apologize. Thank you.

Thank you. That's it, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. I will close the public comment. Mr. Winker.

And it was Kevin casa reside at 1, 2, 0, 8, South street, apartment, 18, 3, 3, 1, 3, 4.

We get the point. Do you have anything else that you'd like to add for the record? Yes.

Okay, Mr. Winker, first and foremost, I don't want to do the applicant's job for him, but you do understand that this is not competent substantial evidence. Anybody can come here and say what they'd like.

I'll let you finish. When you're ready to finish and you provide the necessary respect here, then I'll keep moving forward. But there has to be order and decorum in the room. I know you want to have a free-for-all. That's what we had in the past, but we don't have that here now. Everybody has a voice and an opportunity to speak, and I've given everybody the opportunity. I just ask you to give me the same respect. Now, first and foremost, you know it very well that that is not competent substantial evidence. At the end of the day, anyone can come here and say whatever they like. The body has to

And you're doing a good job on behalf of your client, but these are facts. A person's opinion coming up here, whether they're in favor of a project or they're against a project, is not competent, substantial evidence. It's not. You as a lawyer know that, and you cannot argue on that here. I'm not a lawyer. We have two lawyers on this panel along with our city attorney. And you know that very well because you've used that argument in the past when you've been up here and you've said that things are not competent, substantial evidence. And you said it very clearly. And I wish I had that clip to

Mr. Winker, on point number one, you're incorrect. On point number two, I will personally, like I've done before here, when we've had issues where, for example, on my recall, where hundreds, hundreds of signatures were incorrect, were false, and were falsified. That's why the recall was thrown out. I personally will go through the city attorney and ask for my colleagues in the commission to support me, which they will, to call for that investigation. But one thing has nothing to do with the other. Yes, sir.

Thank you. As we move on now to a conversation amongst the Commission, before we do that, can I have a motion and a second? I'll move it. Second. Second.

That's what we're doing. Madam Vice Mayor.

So I concur with the Mayor that just like when you had false signatures on any petition, that that is something that must be looked into. But I can assure you that I am going to ignore any statements from anybody that falsified their information. But what does need to be known here is what has been ignored. Heard a lot of statements about the building being incompatible. Yet we had a proposal for a 12-story building being brought forward by the opponents. That would be incompatible. That would be more likely to be on Ponce de Leon Boulevard. And if you go down to the corner of Galliano and Sed

Yeah, there is separate, a lot of different points I want to go ahead and raise. But before I do, I want to go ahead and I want to call Chief Hudak to the podium because I have very, very, Very important question regarding the testimony of attorney David Winker. I believe, not I believe, during the last commission meeting when this item was presented, all of these, because it's a quasi-judicial item, were sworn under oath. Am I correct, city attorney?

Okay, so given those facts, is this a crime?

The second point I'm going to go ahead and raise after I went ahead and I saw the testimony of Attorney Winker is, number one, I was in disbelief of what I was watching. I especially don't think things like this happen in Coral Gables. But to stand before a commission, raise your hand, swear to tell the truth, and then provide false information, that is not public participation. That is a direct attack on the integrity of this process. You cannot swear to tell the city the truth and then give those false information and then expect us to pretend, hey, it doesn't matter, it's okay. You're here

Commissioner. Well, I think that the Vice Mayor really put everything quite well and won't repeat all the very well laid out bases that she laid out. and the somewhat tortured journey over the last five years to get this development to where it is right now. But I will just address that if there was false testimony given, there are appropriate agencies and individuals who could look into that. I'm certainly not condoning anybody coming here and saying I You know, I dye my hair, you know, or I had some work done or anything like that when, in fact, they didn't or vice versa. But if somebody com

Thank you. First and foremost, I ask for my colleagues, maybe we should do it via motion, And we have a motion on the floor, but with a second motion to refer this through the city attorney to the necessary. Outlets, whether it be at the state or at it be at. The ethics commission, or it be at Kathy Fernandez Rundle's office to address this issue front and center and then you report back to us when you have some information.

I acknowledge that there was a motion on the floor, but that's my intention and that will be my motion after we're done with this motion. Number two, for the record, because it was, Mr. Winker was very cute in the way that he used words. He didn't use competent, substantial evidence. Madam City Attorney, is a person's testimony Confident substantial evidence. Yes or no?

Moving forward on that front, okay, that's been answered and cleared up. Let me tell you why I'm in support of this project. I support this project because two reasons. I support Crystal Academy. And number two, the individuals that came to see me were willing to have a 12-story building be built there instead of the nine-story that's being proposed now in an effort to save a private piece of property. It's a private piece of property. It's not a park. While I would love to save that green space, I understand that people have an attachment to that. Again, people have property rights and we hav

I think an important point here is that we need to keep in mind is that development can be rebuilt, but history cannot. First, I want to point out that the developer contributed $10,000 to the mayor's pact 12 days before the vote. Now the mayor is being asked to vote on that developer's project. The ask, what is the ask? change the zoning more than double the allowed height, demolish the Garden of Our Lord, and transform a property of historic significance. Some votes approve buildings. Others define a city. This is one of those votes. Residents can obviously draw their own conclusions, but I

Yes. The developer hasn't given or donated any money toward my campaign in the past. So my vote is not as you're trying to intimate influenced by donations.

Mayor Lago. Yes. On another note, let's move on to the issue of the referral. Give me one second. I know. I know. But we're not going to wait until the end. We're going to do it now. Because I want to make sure that it comes from me. So I'd like to make a motion.

For this one item, I'm passing the gavel. I've been here 14 years. I'm passing the gavel. And that is, the motion is that I ask the city attorney and the city manager to work in tandem to ensure that this issue is referred. The fact that we had individuals that showed up here, and not only in Miami-Dade County, showed up here and lied to the commission, that they were residents of the City of Beautiful. I want to make sure that it's referred to the necessary authorities, whether it's Cassidy Fernandez-Rundle, whether it's the ethics commission locally and at the state, Whatever entities need t

Yes. Moving on to item E4. May I have a motion?

There's a big difference between development and over development knowing the difference is a really big part of this body now.

Yes, we are tired of the 5 may have a motion. I'll move it that second.

We constantly talk about preserving the history and the character of Coral Gables. With this vote, we're talking our walk or we're walking our talk. No.

Mayor Lago. Yes. Thank you very much. Moving on to the next item, which is a time certain 2 p.m. And that is E8, E9, E10, E11, E12, and E16. Madam City Attorney?

Good afternoon. Mr. Bass, I noticed you're at the podium, so that means you're ready.

We'll call for public speakers. Okay. Thank you, sir. Madam Director.

Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, do we have any public comment?

I understand speaker several members of the board are also here that wanted to speak from the University of Miami for speaker Maria Cruz.

THAT'S IT, MR. MAYOR. ALL RIGHT. WE'LL CLOSE THE PUBLIC COMMENT. I'D LIKE TO I'm going to get there. Okay. We're not going anywhere. Trust me. I promise you. We've been waiting a long time for this. So I'd like to call up members of the board. I don't know if the chairman would like to come up first, or he would like to have his fellow board members. Giving you the option. Mr. Tovar.

Mr. Cadre, I do have some questions. I had written an email to you regarding some of the concerns that I had. I know that some of them have...

I couldn't agree more, but after the meeting that we had, you did open me up to questions. And I went ahead and I took that opportunity to be able to connect with you personally. So no disrespect to the city manager, but that was an agreement you and I had.

Listen, all I want to do is support the agreement, okay, in good faith. BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO ME AND TO THIS COMMUNITY ARE ADDRESSED PROPERLY. AND I WAS SEEING THAT SOME WERE ADDRESSED AND SOME I'M QUESTIONABLE ABOUT. I WANT TO VOTE YES. OKAY? I WANT, I MEAN, I CANNOT BE MORE PROUD FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI TO BE IN CORAL GABLES EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI. But between this reading and next reading, let's go ahead and flush. There was three points there. Let's go ahead and talk about specifically some of the ones, maybe not here right now,

I didn't hear any questions be asked or answered. We'll talk about that later, I guess. Mr. Tovar, as a business owner, as a resident, I'm very grateful you're here.

Anyone else from the board or from University of Miami would like to say a few words? Perfect. Before we turn it over to the commission, I'd like to have a motion and a second if possible.

Thank you, Mayor. This is a very important day for the future of Coral Gables, not just because of the Centennial Park, which I would equate to an equivalent of our country club, Prado, that had deep visions but a 30-year agreement that will take this university to the next level. Residents that I speak to about the growth of the university are pleased that the university is growing within, not burdening the residents behind it. And the leadership of this board has been shown, too, because he and I reached out regarding transportation issues. You put your hands up and you said, we will partici

Yes, I'll go ahead and reiterate some of the requests that I had. on top, surface-wise. One of the first things that was of great importance was the Centennial Park and that the language is airtight, that it's a passive park. This is not Central Park. This is not Ponce Park. This is benches, anything that is to maintain the park as passive. You know, walkways maybe, nothing more. Trees. I put the language there. I drafted some language. But I think the expertise of the city attorney, if that is okay with you, we can flush that out a little better. The second thing I requested was direct commun

Well, first of all, I want to say congratulations to Chef Pass for not only a comprehensive and educational but very entertaining presentation i uh i must say you know jeff and i go back a little ways we both served on the judicial nominating commission with the third district court of appeal many years ago that's why i was first wowed by mr bass and his command of the language because he's a very erudite guy and very very um studied and very studious person, but he has a flair all to his own. And so what you did for the university today was commendable to be sure. I want to recognize the city

Thank you, Commissioner. I'm not going to be as brief.

Let's start with a little project called Lenar. I'm the only one that was here. I remember a young lady in the back saying Lenar is going to be what destroys this community. I remember making that vote against the pressuring of one community member. It's going to be a traffic nightmare. I drive by Lenore every morning at 4.30 in the morning on the way to the gym. Come back, 6 o'clock, drive on the way home. I drive to take my girls to soccer. It's a traffic nightmare because Miami is a traffic nightmare. But Lennar has internal queuing. Lennar has parking attached to the building. Basically, y

That's nothing new. It's not being discussed or brought to the table now. There will be no development of the park. There will be deed restrictions, which have already been laid out. The property shall be perpetually used and maintained for public park purposes only. The project shall not be sold. By the way, I have a piece of property that's coming before the boards right now that will be coming before the next commission that says unequivocally that any green space, any park can never be sold unless it goes before the residents of this community through a referendum, and the residents approv

Yes, and thank you for all your hard work, the board, the manager's office, and the mayor. This will be a lasting legacy for generations to come.

Oh, that's the next one. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you very much. See you at the second reading. We have not had lunch yet. It is 3.30.

Yes. Let's go have lunch. I would appreciate some refuel.

Yes, let's go have lunch for 20 minutes. So we got a long agenda here, and I'm actually going to defer some items, because I know that people here probably want to quickly. I'm going to defer item E7, which is an ordinance of mine on first reading. Let me see what else.

I'll look at mine, Jordan, while I refill.

He said one second. I think everything else is pretty simple. All right. Be back in 20 minutes. So at 3.50. Thank you.

Proceed with taking item 2-1, which had a 330 times certain, the library historic marker. Okay.

Oh, here she is. Hey, Paige, how are you? Come on up. Good afternoon.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I love the idea. More than anything, what I love is the community service and the engagement. All of your incredible members of the community who are involved in not only just one aspect of the city, but on multiple levels, multiple tiers. And I hear from all of you on a weekly basis, which is great, by the way. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. No, no, all of you. And I think it's great. And I know the rest of the commission is the same way. So thank you for bringing this forward, for making the commitment to get this done. And again, just impressive as alw

My privilege. Thank you very much. Anybody have any advice, Mayor?

Yes, I think this is a great project. And as I mentioned to you all, there was also a marker on the Segovia side that is missing and has been missing. I spoke to Anna Parenas about that. So I'm going to ask that the board look at that and bring it back to us and see if we can figure out if we can restore that to the library as well.

Right, so thank you for your hard work. Do we need a motion on this?

I'll second. Mr. Clerk? Commissioner Lara? I want to say thank you all for being so engaged. I echo the Mayor's sentiments, and you can count Mr. Mayor on my support when we finally get it all going. And again, thank you. Yes, it's my vote. Vice Mayor Anderson?

Mayor Locke. Yes. Thank you, ladies, as always. I appreciate you leading the way. And thank you to staff on this. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. We're going to do item E6, and then we'll move on to G1, which is time starting right after that. Item E6.

Again, thank you to the manager. We couldn't have done it without the manager. He made it happen. You may have a very complicated few issues. Again, it was a straggler in regards to the new six parks that we're going to have in the downtown. This is one of them. But again, we missed one issue. But look how pretty that open space is. Again, that goes to show you that our city was lacking these green spaces, and now you're going to see them in the downtown. When you include Pond Circle Park, there's going to be about seven of them in the downtown. And again, this is going to be transformational

If you think about it, if you think about it, between Pond Circle Park, between this park, between Publix, And between the Armando Codina Manny Cadre site, which is on the corner of Almeria, you have four parks within a two-block radius. I mean, that to me is a game changer. A game changer for property values.

I just want to congratulate you and thank you and the team behind this project for having the foresight to move these specimen trees. I remember being asked the question, will the city allow it to hang over the sidewalk? And I said, absolutely. That's where it's going to provide shade for pedestrians walking down the sidewalk. And it's become a monumental thing. And you also received a tree off of another site where they didn't have a location. So altogether, you say, 2 specimen trees on one on this one site is ones down on Catalonia and you have the sausage tree which is quite a character of

Thank you. Moving on a motion second, yes, sir.

Yes. Mayor Lago. Yes. So now we, as a city, own this park. Thank you very much. E18. May I have a motion?

Yes. Thank you very much. Since we're talking about this area, I want to put it on the record. think it's next Commission meeting we have we have the adjacent block that's forthcoming to the city it's going through the process right now and I asked my colleagues to familiarize themselves with why I'm sponsoring that item and it's the adjacent block to the south so you can understand exactly what my requests are and what the process is going through right now and why I am asking for this to come before the Commission for consideration Just giving you a little heads up, taking advantage of the f

love it i drive by it every single day five six times it's a beautiful area and i love the design i love the bench and it's a beautiful piece of art so again i think it's gonna get a lot of attention that area is getting better and better every day so thank you thank you for bringing that and also the wolson family again we need to talk about the wolson family so it's a great it's a great addition just to have their name involved and we love the fact that they're involved here in the city of beautiful and not in the city of Miami. They've done a lot for this community and they deserve this typ

I'll move it. Spectacular piece, by the way.

It's cool, right? I like it. It's amazing. Yeah. We have a motion. I'll second. Mr. Clerk, any public comment?

Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm going to try to run through city manager items really quick because they seem pretty benign. Item H2, Mr. Manager. I just, I'm on that page. I might as well just continue going on the page.

So this is the final piece in regards to moving forward with obviously the mobility of correct. Your mic is off.

A LONG TIME COMING. I WANT TO THANK THE VICE MAYOR. WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR A LONG TIME. IT'S GOOD TO SEE SOMETHING MOVING FORWARD. MADAM VICE MAYOR.

NEW SPEAKER. NEW SPEAKER. IT'S BEEN YEARS, AND I KNOW THERE WAS SOME QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT STAFF HAD DONE ADEQUATE PRESENTATIONS, SO I JUST WANT TO, FOR THE RECORD, JUST SHOW SOME OF THE BOARDS THAT DURING THE PRESENTATION.

Quickly, because I maintained the boards because I was at the presentation where staff covered everything.

Commissioner, I know you questioned whether or not there had been a presentation. I was present. The room was full. And staff presented where trees could be planted, where trees couldn't be planted, the types of trees, and gave an opportunity for residents to make comment, and they did.

Madam Vice Mayor, how many years have you been working on this?

Probably close to 18 to 20, but just staff outlined where trees could go.

Staff provided tree options, and there's landscaping options behind us. These are in my office if you have any questions about them. Ultimately, the residents chose to have our highly qualified landscape designer choose the trees and design it in a professional manner. We are finally at the point where this project can be done, and I'd like to move it forward. So on that, I'll move this.

OH, SHE'S TALKING TO YOU THROUGH TEXT. INTERESTING. SHE SAYS SHE SENT YOU A TEXT.

Yeah, so I have a question. Was this final conclusion presented to the residents of Baltimore Way?

So you're telling me that this is on the record, right? Because I've had several residents come to me.

Okay. And then the other one is? Yeah, they said that they never agreed for staff to go ahead and pick the trees. That's something they're saying. I'm not aware. These residents are saying that they never agreed for the city to go ahead and pick out the trees.

Can you tell me when was the date that this was presented to the Billmore Way residents?

Well, yeah, that was a date that I went ahead and I wrote on my memo. But after that, there were substantial changes. Nothing else was presented to these residents?

So these residents really don't know what's coming?

The presentation right now? Is that how they're finding out?

I'm so sorry. I'm not understanding what you're saying.

Let me explain to you. Mayor? Wait, wait, please. My conversation is with me and him afterwards. No, but I'm running the meeting.

Yeah, but it's my turn. No, no, but it's not. No, no, no. This is my time. Commissioner. We've had a good meeting. Commissioner. Relax, okay? Let me finish my conversation. Let me help you. I appreciate your help. But let me give you a little bit of advice.

Let me just give you a little advice. You can do it after I'm done. No, no, but listen. When it comes to the U.M. meeting, For example, on the planning and zoning board meeting that dealt with UM and the agreement, I went and I listened to the meeting. And then I took notes. What did Maria Cruz say? What did Felix Pardo say? What did Robert Behar say? What did Iggy say? What did Alex Bucelo say? What was the vote? And it had all the points. My recommendation to you is a simple one. I've been discussing this with the Biltmore Way residents for almost a decade. And the vice mayor has been engage

I understand, but since you were provided some false information, I have to clarify it. I didn't choose the trees. The consensus is of everybody except Ms. Gould. And if we had 99 people, there was one dissenter, and that was Ms. Gold. That staff was more qualified than they were, the selected tree species. And it was unanimous that the large trees could not go on the sidewalk because of number one wires and other issues in between. But if you want large trees, that can also be done, but you have to give up some parking spaces in order to do that.

That was one of the big issues they didn't want to do. Some people didn't want to build parking spaces around it.

So I didn't bring the large tree board because it was a small tree thing for in the sidewalks because that's what the majority of residents there wanted, the small trees on the sidewalk. We can move forward with larger trees in the future when and if they're ready for that.

Remember this, Mr. Director, we had these conversations. Mr. Manager, we had litany of conversations about a certain area in the Biltmore Way where residents wanted large streets. Remember? And why couldn't we provide large streets? Because when we did our exploratory work, we found out that obviously that would compromise the integrity of residents. the under parking garage. So people, when they found out about it, they said, the residents said, oh, wow, that makes a lot of sense. We don't want to plant a huge tree or plant a massive canopy in that area where it could compromise our undergrou

I can finish my argument now. argument i don't know what you're arguing about you're not arguing with me number one let this be the last time you interrupt me the floor was mine number two i didn't ask for your recommendation i'm not your daughter and i'm not your employee stay there in your lane and number three my duty here is to represent the the residents of coral gables and when they reach out to me with certain concerns it is my full responsibility to go ahead and voice them so you could keep your recommendations to yourself. I was gonna vote yes on this item, but I need to make sure tha

I don't even know how to respond to that because that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard in my life. My point to you is a simple one. Just be prepared and watch the meeting minutes. Don't just come here not knowing what you're doing and then ask other people to give you an opinion. You're not prepared for a meeting. And you're only embarrassing yourself because you don't even know what you're voting on. So, Mr. Director, will you please finish? Thank you.

We talked about this with the manager and with Ms. Bell. I would love nothing more. than to make the individual who wrote us an email happy. But when we found out that there was underground parking in that area, we had to scrap that idea. We couldn't, I mean, Mr. Manager, tell me if I'm wrong. I mean, you tell me, I listened to these meetings. I've been to these meetings. We've been trying to get this done for 10 years. Tell me if I'm wrong here. But you have to put it here.

In closing, it's not whether you're my daughter or my employee. With my own daughters, I tell them, just be prepared when you go to an event or before you speak. Because at the end of the day, not only do you embarrass yourself, you embarrass everyone around you. So it has nothing to do with that. We have a motion in a second.

Yes. Thank you very much. Finally, after how many years have we been talking about this?

Eight years. So it's a good thing. Probably before. We finally got it done. Do me a favor, please, so that the entire commission, will you, through the manager, send the video of that meeting, please? I think it's important. Through the manager, please. Item H5.

Yes. Thank you to procurement. Thank you to public works, to the manager. This is something that we've been working for. It's got to be over five years now, especially Rotary Park and Cooper, Cooper Park, well-deserved areas that have been dying for renovation of these parks. So the residents are very, very happy. Thank you very much. Item 87.

Mr. Clerk? Yes, Mr. Mayor. May I have a motion? May I have a second? Second. Do we have any public comment?

May I have a motion? I'll move it. May I have a second? Second. Any public comment? No, Mr. Mayor.

May I have a motion? I'll move it. May I have a second? Second. Any public comment?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Can we go ahead and answer Maria Cruz's question, please?

Yes. As everyone is aware, we have agenda meetings. So at the end of the day, this is a simple, this is standard policy. If you've been here for more than a week, you would understand how this works. Thank you very much. Moving on to the next item, H10.

May I have a second? Second. Chief? You're not going to walk away. You're on the podium. You got to give a presentation. It wasn't a long trip. This is big money.

If you would do me a favor, please thank your wife for all her hard work. She did a wonderful job. Sorry. She did a very good job during the FIFA festivities and the buildup. And again, It was a testament to her knowledge and her expertise as a city manager, as a person who's been a public servant for over 30 years. So, again, just because you make it look easy doesn't mean that you shouldn't still be thanked.

Can we have a motion? Motion and a second? Yes, we have. Commissioner Lara?

May I have a motion? I'll move it. May I have a second?

Thank you. If I may, just very quickly, it's very disappointing to see the massive increases that are forthcoming. Again, that goes to show you the difference between the city of Coral Gables and Miami-Dade County. We're planning and budgeting for the future. We're working incredibly hard to make sure that the impacts, case in point, like we've done with the pensions over the last 10 years. That's just one example, how we've replaced our fleet, how we're working on always ensuring that our buildings are maintained, that our infrastructure is maintained. Now you're going to see this is going to

Again, same thing with the issue of burning down Covanta. Something that has not been addressed for years now. And it's only getting more expensive. Our landfill is going to be full in a handful of years. How are we going to address that issue? What are we going to do? Where are we going to dump the waste? We're talking about shipping it in trains out of the state of Florida. That's not the answer. We need to find solutions. The city of Coral Gables is leading. We started talking about, remember this, Mr. Director and Mr. Manager, since 2017, we talked about disposing of our own green matter u

Mr. Clerk, do you have any public comment?

Mr. Clerk, we have a motion. Yes, sir, we do. A second? Yes, sir.

Commissioner Lara? Yes. Mayor Lago? Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. E1?

Madam Director, the city attorney would like to hear from you first. Thank you.

Any further comment? No, Mr. Mayor. All right. A motion to second.

May I have a second? Second. Mr. Clerk, any public comment? No, Mr. Mayor. Madam Director? Anything else for the good of the order?

May I have a second? Second. It's a good any public comment, yes, Mister mayor or a cruise.

Okay. Thank you. Yes. 819 is done. All right. Moving on to item F2.

May I have a motion? I'll move it. I have a second. Second.

Mayor, this is paired together with the fee reduction for living sea wells. Staff has studied and presented an expediting process for the living sea wells to encourage people to do those. So I bring this to the commission for that. And I'm going to add one more thing. There is a tour of the facility where people can Observe the facility itself where these are made. This is a UM graduate who studied law, by the way, and went into 3D printed walls, seawalls. I'm a little jealous. It's on Friday, September 25th, 2026 from noon to 2 p.m. And the address is 3007 Northwest South River Drive. I will

All right, we have a motion and a second.

No, I just, but we talked about it. I still have to call it anyways.

Yeah. So, I mean, one quick question here. How come you wouldn't call this item before you called the other one?

At the end of the day, my item was time shortened. And as the person who runs the meeting, I have it within my right to call what I think is appropriate in and out of order as required. At the end of the day, I've answered the question. I'm giving you the opportunity to address your issue right now if you'd like. Your item is at 5. You can bring it up.

But you knew very well that if you called your item first, mine would be invalid. And you're running the meeting, right? Wouldn't you want to call this item? Would it not be in the best interest of Coral Gables to call that item first before making mine basically extinct?

I don't think there's anything else more to talk about. I wrote everything in a memo. I find that to be very disrespectful.

I find it, as you saw in the video that I posted before, to hire somebody without even knowing who they are to run the most important city in Miami-Dade County, not only disrespectful, but I find it absolutely insane that for one year we had an individual that you hired basically based out of LinkedIn. But again, that's everyone's prerogative to do. But thank God those days are behind us. Mr. Clerk, next item, item F7.

I have a memo that I want to put up on the on the on the on the board. If possible. So I want to first and foremost, thank staff. This is something that we've been working on. And I want to thank Laura from my office. Thank the public works team, ACM, DCM, Mr. Manager. I WANT TO THANK COMMISSIONER OF DISTRICT 6, NATALIE ORVAS, FOR COMING TO A MEETING, FOR ENGAGING. I THINK, AM I MISSING FDOT? FDOT WAS HERE ALSO? FDOT WASN'T PRESENT AT THE MOMENT. OH, YEAH, AND THE COUNTY, YES, THANK YOU. THIS IS IMPORTANT. THIS IS, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN DOING SOME RESEARCH AND MONITORING THE STREET LIGHTS. throu

So, I'm going to tag in on that. FDOT is putting a sidewalk south side of Bird Road, and Deputy City Manager has also worked with county and FDOT to put a bench where the bus bench is. So, perhaps we could get an update on all these items on Bird Road, if you could, for the next commission meeting to see what the timeline is. Because we're supposed to have an eight-foot sidewalk. There's supposed to be a crosswalk over to use the bridge, and then People wanting to get to the high school can carefully then cross back and get to the high school. A lot of improvements, but it would be nice since

All right. Well, thank you. Just wanted to bring it to your attention, something we're working on, and I'd love to have your guidance on this. Item F8.

That's a quick presentation. It's a draft. Mr. Clerk, if you could have that brought up. There should be an image there. And while you're looking for the image, I'm going to describe what it is. I've been the liaison for the Green Corridor for the past several years. And one of my asks for the board was to establish a septic to sewer co-op just like we had a solar co-op because it saves tremendous amount of money when you don't have to pay staging costs plus you get a competitive rate and i did this for solar and i did get an extremely competitive rate that was you know comparatively much bett

I just wanted to give you that update. I'm working with Martha Pantene to go through this presentation and improve it.

Thank you very much so I have to before we I think we're done with the with the agenda correct. Which one. Oh 8, 12, excuse me, yes, one more presentation we have one more and 8, 12, thank you for that. The director.

Okay. Mr. Grode, do you have any public comment?

I understand, but you're still over one minute. Thank you very much.

The community input meeting- You're one minute and 30 seconds over.

I understand that, but we still have rules. At the end of the day, that's the way it works.

Thank you, Ms. Pardo. Send my best to your husband. Thank you.

Madam ACM, can we discuss a pocket item that I have today? And I apologize. We were waiting for a final approval of negotiations.

Through the mayor? Still on the prior item.

Thank you. I want some transparency on this last item of the presentation. There's a reverted clause on the youth center. And have we looked into the actual legality of actually having them think that they have an opportunity to do a dog park there?

Can you, can we, do you understand her question, Madam City Attorney? She's talking about whether on that property there's a revert clause. And she's talking about the use center.

So it doesn't apply. And by the way, that's something that's been talked about multiple times. There's nothing new here, just so we're aware. The commission has been briefed on that. And we've had this conversation multiple times over the last year and a half. That's what I'm telling you. We got to come prepared to these meetings. All right. By the way, and I was interrupted because I knew that we're moving forward. And again, you want to speak? Go ahead. You interrupted me. But now, so moving on what I was saying. I have a pocket item, and it was, I apologize for not getting it on the agenda

When I brought it to the manager, that's what they wanted, a city subsidy. And I said that under no circumstances can we as a city afford to do that because, again, it would be a precedent. After multiple negotiations, we were able to come to an agreement that they would pay the bill.

So just very briefly, Porsche collectors travel from all over the world for these type of events. And DuPont Registry is the leader when it comes to these type of car events. It's a first class event that I think is going to be great exposure for the city. And you're going to have thousands of people that come and spend their hard-earned money here in the city of Coral Gate. I've spoken to a lot of patrons, excuse me, the restaurants and businesses. And again, this is a good way, like we try to do with a lot of events, to draw people to the downtown, especially on a long weekend. They're payin

Mayor, I think it's going to be beneficial for our downtown. I know some Porsche enthusiasts, maybe they'll come down and visit me. So it'll be fun.

Through the mayor? Yes, sir. Yeah, so this is the kind of event, great idea that will bring what I think we need is like a wow factor. We need a few wow factors to drive some traffic, but traffic, no pun intended, to Miracle Mile. I think the weather's going to be great, I'm sure. I can predict it. And it's going to become something that I have a feeling is going to be an annual event. So great idea. I think it's going to be a big hit.

Can we take a vote to make sure that we have support from the commission?

Aye. Thank you. Thank you very much for your support. All right. I have another item. And I want to talk about another pocket item that I didn't want to bring up when we talked about the manager or the DCM. So I've been thinking about it and, you know, it's been such a privilege to work with you and you've dedicated yourself for so many years to public service in this community, especially the city of Coral Gables as a 50-year resident, that I think it's appropriate and much well-deserved if this commission would honor you by naming a park after your service here in the city of Coral Gables. A

I know it's not necessary, but at the end of the day, more than well deserved.

Well, through the mayor, I think it's been a... a historic day on many levels, both with Lee Lincoln, with Joe Gomez being named now, come January 8th, new city manager, even a historic day on many levels. And then the surprise right now of having a park named after you is – Well, it's just really the cherry on top. So I'm highly supportive of it. You know, you've earned it, Peter. I'm hoping for the unanimous support also of our commission. I'll move the item.

I find that to be a beautiful gesture from the mayor to you. However, my vote's going to be no. I believe that most of these parks are named after people who have been deceased. And you have a long way to go still. But I'm sorry, no.

Well, when we, the commission, have voted to name parks in the city after those still with us, you know, David Lawrence, right? Dorothy Thompson, Bill Kurdike. These are the most deserving folks, and it's not without precedent. And I definitely think you belong in those ranks as well. So my vote is yes.

Of course, yes. Don't forget the Kikoris family. It is a few blocks away from my house. You have David Lawrence, obviously, Kurdike, Kikoris family. Mayor Thompson, Mayor Thompson, David Lawrence, wonderful people who are pillars of the community. You deserve to be in that same breath for all the hard work that you've done. It's approved. Yes, sir.

You know what I can say about that? Don't believe what you read on the blogs. Don't believe it. Madam Vice Mayor.

Just a couple quick things. We, this Thursday, have the Junior Orange Bowl kickoff at 4 o'clock at Five Iron Golf in the plaza. If you haven't been by Five Iron Golf, it's a good opportunity to go see what they have to offer. This Saturday, early in the morning, I think it starts at 9, we have the Pollinator Palooza. Bring out your little ones, let them get dirty. having fun putting some plants in the ground, and it's an adorable time to take pictures. And this is a little bit in advance, but we have a wine and fries event for some of you wine connoisseurs. It's the Red Shoe Society that helps

I don't have any events to really put out there, but I just want to go ahead and address this to the mayor. I'm going to ask you respectfully, please don't tell me I come unprepared to this meeting. I prioritize this city above a lot of the things that I do, the items and the agenda, and I spend countless hours representing and serving this city. I also run a business. And I'm raising two children. And for some reason, I still prioritize sometimes above my business and my children, this city. So please reserve your comments when you tell me I don't come prepared. I barely sleep. That is it.

Okay. Commissioner. Yeah. So I mentioned it briefly, uh, or during the meeting earlier today, and I'm going to continue to harp on it because I think it's really special, and I think it'll be a lot of fun. So for all of you Coral Gable Senior High School grads who either graduated with me in 1980 or want to come join anyway to a great night, it'll be at Bay 13, and that's on September 19th. And there's still tickets available from 6 to 10. Music will be provided by the Tall Boys, who were a band that I remember back in the day when I was a young lad. And if you buy a ticket, you also get a tou

I love it. One final thing that maybe people didn't realize it because obviously we're in the middle of commission today. We have a distinct honor that God willing, if he is elected, we'll have another South Florida individual as Lieutenant Governor, Senator Brian Avila, which is my dear friend. When he was a state representative, even before he was elected, we knew each other. He was selected by Byron Donalds as his running mate in the November election for governor. He's running for Lieutenant Governor. He is an incredibly accomplished individual who has served this great country in the mili

Aye. Thank you. Let's reopen the meeting.

Okay. So are we still are we still on or no? We're done. We adjourned. Yes. Perfect. Um, for the next meeting, I had an item that I wanted to show. Now I'll showcase it after the videos that we sent you.