The palm trees that cost former Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno his job — after he was caught in a lie about them — must go, too.
An independent consulting firm has found that 14 Bismarckia Palms along Ponce de Leon Boulevard in downtown Coral Gables do present a visibility issue to drivers, after all — despite what Salerno had said — and must be removed.
The city is in the process of finding out how much it would cost to dig up the trees — which cost the city about $12,000 a piece — planted in the bump-outs from Salamanca to Alcazar avenues. Everyone thinks the median is the problem, but nope. The issue is at the corners? Really?
City officials told Ladra they hope to be able to replant them someplace else — hopefully away from traffic.
May I suggest that Salerno pay for it out of his golden parachute.
After all, Salerno had to quit in a hurry when he was caught in a lie about the trees, which were bought from — drumroll, here — Manny Diaz Farms (more on that later).
Read related: Coral Gables begins anew, sans paranoid Pat Salerno
The city manager resigned abruptly April 8 rather than face questions about a false and misleading report that he presented to Commissioner Vince Lago, who had asked about what seemed like an increase in accidents. Police provided Salerno with information that indicated there had been an increase and that there was a visibility issue. Salerno apparently cut and paste pieces of the report so that the commissioner didn’t get that.
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