{"id":393887,"date":"2026-09-08T18:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393887\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T18:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:06:07","slug":"coral-gables-city-hall-says-voices-matter-until-inconvenient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/393887\/","title":{"rendered":"Coral Gables city hall says voices matter until inconvenient"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Attorney<\/p>\n

Attorney David Winker representing residents speaks during a Coral Gables Commission meeting to discuss items related to the site located at 110 Phonetia Avenue, in the Douglas Section in Coral Gables.<\/p>\n

Pedro Portal<\/p>\n

pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

Voices carry<\/p>\n

Re: Michelle Marchante\u2019s Aug. 27 article, \u201cWere some people paid to support Gables Apartment project? City will investigate<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Miami Villagers respectfully ask: does your voice matter?<\/p>\n

As reported, many of those who spoke in support of the 200-unit, nine-story development allegedly misrepresented where they lived. After swearing to tell the truth, a video showed that some of those individuals did not live in the neighborhood surrounding the project. Yet, the commission moved forward and approved the property\u2019s upzoning.<\/p>\n

During the first reading, some commissioners declared, \u201cThe voices of the people do matter\u201d and \u201cThe community has spoken.\u201d But after the allegations were exposed, their position changed to \u201cAnyone can come here and say whatever they like, the body has to make a decision based on the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since when do the voices of residents not matter?<\/p>\n

Community input is vital when decisions reshape neighborhoods. We encourage residents to speak out about decisions affecting their neighborhoods, because your voice does matter.<\/p>\n

Carmen Diaz-Padron,<\/p>\n

president,<\/p>\n

Miami Villagers,<\/p>\n

Coral Gables<\/p>\n

Clean waters<\/p>\n

Re: the Sept. 4 story, \u201cVirginia Key is getting targeted for redevelopment. Now, plans for a mooring field<\/a>.\u201d An important aspect of any plan for this project should be appropriate facilities for sewage control.<\/p>\n

Having travelled all the Great Lakes and associated bodies of water, my family and I saw and were required to comply with strict rules prohibiting overboard discharge of black water\/sewage.<\/p>\n

In 1995, on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain, our boat was physically inspected to ensure there was a lock on the Y-valve diverter, which had to be set to the holding tank.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope the city of Miami has the good conscience to require strict enforcement of \u201cNo Overboard Discharge\u201d in the proposed mooring field. South Florida has always lacked the enforcement our northern neighbors require for keeping their waters clean!<\/p>\n

Juan A. Galan, Jr.,<\/p>\n

Coral Gables<\/p>\n

Voter suppression<\/p>\n

A whistleblower recently said that the U.S. Postal Service is rushing forward with President Trump\u2019s plan, which could severely jeopardize voters\u2019 access to mail-in ballots this November.<\/p>\n

Yet, Trump votes by mail. This isn\u2019t about fraud. It\u2019s about making it harder for the rest of us to vote.<\/p>\n

Paul Bacon,<\/p>\n

Hallandale Beach<\/p>\n

Vouchers for VPK<\/p>\n

According to recent headlines, only 44% of Florida children entering kindergarten are considered \u201cready\u201d and public schools may consider closing some school buildings because enrollment keeps falling, such as at Killian High School. Florida\u2019s voucher program isn\u2019t the only reason for that enrollment decline, but it is one of them.<\/p>\n

Under Florida\u2019s Family Empowerment Scholarship, any parent \u2014 regardless of income or ability to pay \u2014 can now receive a taxpayer-funded voucher to send their child to private school. About 60% of that money follows children into religious schools. By the state\u2019s own data, 69% of voucher recipients were already enrolled and paying tuition. For most of these families, the voucher isn\u2019t opening a door that was closed to them \u2014 it\u2019s a refund.<\/p>\n

Compare that to how we treat the years before kindergarten. Florida\u2019s VPK program covers just three hours of pre-K instruction a day. Anything beyond that \u2014 extended care, a full school day, the hours a working parent actually needs \u2014 comes out of the family\u2019s own pocket, no matter their income.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re often told that businesses should help fund early childhood education, as these are their future employees and a strong start improves the skills they\u2019ll bring to the workforce years later. That\u2019s a reasonable argument.<\/p>\n

However, if we\u2019re willing to use tax dollars to fund private, K-12 tuition for families that can already afford it, why are we not willing to do the same for the three-, four- and five-year-olds who need it most?<\/p>\n

Alex Jimenez,<\/p>\n

Winter Park<\/p>\n

True detective<\/p>\n

In the Aug. 27 article, \u201cBreaking down the findings from the Hope Florida grand jury repor<\/a>t,\u201d the Miami Herald reported on the inability of a Leon County grand jury to identify the person responsible for diverting $10 million in taxpayer money to the Hope Florida organization, where it was used to fund political campaigns opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state.<\/p>\n

To catch the architect of the scheme, grand jury investigators should hone in on people who had the motive and the means to execute it. I\u2019m no detective, but one logical first step could be to compile a list of all government officials who so despise the recreational use of marijuana that they might go to great lengths to prevent its legalization. Then, identify anyone on that list who had the power to ensure the $10 million would be used against marijuana legalization.<\/p>\n

Without pointing any fingers, it is worth noting that Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is married to Hope Florida\u2019s founder, has over the years, repeatedly called recreational pot a \u201creal problem,\u201d lamented marijuana\u2019s \u201cstench\u201d and \u201cpungent odor,\u201d and warned that \u201cdrugs are killing this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank Salisbury,<\/p>\n

Miami<\/p>\n

Reinstate this law<\/p>\n

Florida has not had a malfeasance statute since about 1995. Given the conduct described in the recently disclosed Hope Florida grand jury report, candidates seeking state office must express their positions on the need for such a law.<\/p>\n

Sheila Anderson,<\/p>\n

Ocala<\/p>\n

Heavy and sour<\/p>\n

President Trump\u2019s interest in Venezuela appears to be about oil. He recently said that Venezuelans are \u201cnot ready yet for the elections, but at some point, they will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

If so, was the goal ever to free Venezuela from an oppressive communist dictatorship and restore democracy \u2014 or was oil the priority all along?<\/p>\n

Delia deVarona Garcia,<\/p>\n

Miami<\/p>\n

Centrist hopes<\/p>\n

As Florida and the nation settle into the 2026 election season, it\u2019s worth grappling with the extremism that has gripped both sides of our political spectrum.<\/p>\n

On the right, President Trump\u2019s MAGA movement has completely prevailed at every level of the Republican Party. The crass corruption, fire hose of dishonesty, blatant racism and general chaotic governmental ineptitude have become trademarks in Trump\u2019s America. At the state and county levels, Republicans reflexively genuflect to Trump \u2014 and in Florida, to Gov. Ron DeSantis \u2014 in a fashion akin to North Korea\u2019s \u201cDear Leader.\u201d Proud Boys insurrectionists have been seen at their campaign rallies.<\/p>\n

On the left, Democrats at every level contend with an ascendant Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) insurgency, whose platform calls for defunding and abolishing the police, abolishing prisons, the national border and the Pentagon, and the nationalization of \u201clarge\u201d corporations. The DSA has topped off its radicalism with a post commemorating Cuba\u2019s dead leader Fidel Castro and participated in a rally that extolled Hamas one day after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israeli citizens. A more unpopular, impractical and self-destructive political message cannot be imagined.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to hoping that these extremist elements kindle the sensible center within both political parties to reassert themselves. Otherwise, a new independent \u201canti-MAGA\/anti-DSA\u201d movement screams for creation.<\/p>\n

John Andrew Ise,<\/p>\n

Miami Shores<\/p>\n

Who will pay?<\/p>\n

Ten million dollars of the Hope Foundation were misappropriated for partisan political use and no one has been charged. That money was stolen from children to fight against a pair of amendments to Florida\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, this won\u2019t just be swept under the rug. Hopefully, appropriate action will be taken against those responsible.<\/p>\n

Or, will the party in charge protect the guilty again?<\/p>\n

George Lipp,<\/p>\n

Cooper City<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attorney David Winker representing residents speaks during a Coral Gables Commission meeting to discuss items related to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-393887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}