Coral Gables mayoral race takes a nasty, ethnic turn

Coral Gables mayoral race takes a nasty, ethnic turn

The Coral Gables mayoral race this year already had an epic, Count of Monte Cristo vibe — what with the freshman, lone anti-development commissioner on the dais going up against a former mayor that was booted out 15 years ago for over-development, among other things, by said lone commissioner’s husband. But now, it seems that […]

Coral Gables: Raul Valdes-Fauli plans comeback as mayor

Coral Gables: Raul Valdes-Fauli plans comeback as mayor

After a 15-year hiatus, former Coral Gables Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli is planning a comeback to City Hall — as the handpicked successor to Mayor Jim Cason, who has said he won’t run again (though we’ve heard that before). The rumors have been escalating for weeks as Valdes-Fauli, who was tossed out by voters in 2001 after […]

Coral Gables: Dishonest campaign nets Cason smaller win

Coral Gables: Dishonest campaign nets Cason smaller win

Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason and his dishonest campaign fooled enough people to win re-election comfortably Tuesday. But by a much smaller margin that shows he’s lost a lot of the voters’ faith. Former Commissioner Ralph Cabrera conceded at 8 p.m, an hour after polls closed, when only the absentee ballots had been counted and Cason […]

Jim Cason uses city pic out of context for campaign ad

Jim Cason uses city pic out of context for campaign ad

In what is yet another disingenuous move in what has become one of the most dishonest campaigns Ladra has ever seen, Coral Gables incumbent Mayor Jim Cason seems to have used a city photograph out of context for his re-election campaign. The photo is in one of three full-page campaign ads in the Miami Herald’s […]

In Coral Gables, Jim Cason trades smooth sidewalks for votes

In Coral Gables, Jim Cason trades smooth sidewalks for votes

As they go door to door, asking voters to re-elect Mayor Jim Cason, the incumbent’s volunteers are also promising voters that they’ll fix the sidewalks and potholes reported to them. Isn’t that a blatant and unethical abuse of his power? “As part of our voluntary work for the re-election of Jim Cason, we have to […]

Coral Gables mayor’s PAC pays for slick, misleading piece

Coral Gables mayor’s PAC pays for slick, misleading piece

It looks like a city-produced poster to celebrate the 90-year anniversary of Coral Gables. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly the intent. But make no mistake: The enormous, twice-folded mailer that arrived at voters’ homes Friday and Saturday with the 27 official-looking photographs of the city’s best landmarks and the list of initiatives and […]

Coral Gables precedent height can be undone Election Day

Coral Gables precedent height can be undone Election Day

The bad news out of the Coral Gables Commission meeting when the expansive Mediterranean Village development was approved Tuesday, albeit with some downsizing: The height variance allowing developers to go two stories higher than the code permits could very well set a precedent that will give the city a hard time denying other developers the […]

Huge Coral Gables development pushed before election

Huge Coral Gables development pushed before election

Coral Gables Commissioners could approve today the largest single development project in the city’s 90-year history — a mixed use complex over almost 7 acres just east of Ponce Circle Park with 214 condos, 15 townhouses, 320,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a 184-room hotel, a movie theater, a gym and offices to be […]

Coral Gables Chamber debate hardly worth the effort

Coral Gables Chamber debate hardly worth the effort

It’s a real shame that the last debate — if one can even call it that — of the commission and mayoral candidates in Coral Gables was so lame. With two weeks to go before the April 14 election, the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce event Tuesday night was a missed opportunity for the candidates […]

Coral Gables mayoral forum shows stark differences

Coral Gables mayoral forum shows stark differences

UPDATED: Former Coral Gables Commissioner Ralph Cabrera killed it at the first mayoral debate Monday against the overly-scripted incumbent Mayor Jim Cason, who seemed to fumble around and stammer. Cason could hardly put together a coherent sentence — even though it seemed he was reading the whole time. It was the best example to date […]