Commission candidate Carmen Olazabal can’t rewrite ugly past

Commission candidate Carmen Olazabal can’t rewrite ugly past

Carmen Olazabal wants you to forget that she’s an unethical opportunist who put her career above the very safety and lives of Coral Gables residents. As Olazabal, a former interim city manager, runs for a city commission seat, she wants you to forget that she doctored documents and focus on her gender and her degrees […]

Frank Fernandez and Peter Iglesias stay in Coral Gables, for now

Frank Fernandez and Peter Iglesias stay in Coral Gables, for now

It’s been two weeks since Cathy Swanson Rivenbark, officially and reluctantly resigned as city manager in Coral Gables in the light of major commission resistance to her battle with the police chief and insistence that her No. 2 keep his status as the highest ranking cop in the city. In an ironic twist, Assistant City […]

Coral Gables manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark quits job in battle with chief

Coral Gables manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark quits job in battle with chief

After a series of major missteps, a protracted and seemingly personal battle with the popular police and several threats, both public and private, to quit her job, Coral Gables City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark resigned Monday after almost four years at the helm of the City Beautiful. Police Chief Ed Hudak wins. And it seems Commissioner Mike Mena is […]

Coral Gables mayor, commissioners to defy state with assault weapons ban

Coral Gables mayor, commissioners to defy state with assault weapons ban

  The Coral Gables City Commission is poised to approve a mostly symbolic ban on the sale of assault weapons — there are no gun stores in the City Beautiful — even though state law prohibits cities from enacting gun restrictions and they could be removed from office. Let’s keep our trigger fingers crossed. Mayor […]

Coral Gables spying major keeps her job, maxes pension

Coral Gables spying major keeps her job, maxes pension

Coral Gables Commissioners sided with the city manager instead of the police chief on Tuesday when they supported a “separation agreement” that allows a police major who spied on a resident at a public meeting last year to retire from the department with her full pension in November rather than be fired outright. And, in […]

The Cortadito Calendar for Memorial Day week

The Cortadito Calendar for Memorial Day week

Did you have a nice, loooong weekend? Well, just because it’s a shorter week doesn’t meant there’s not a lot going on. The cities of Miami and Coral Gables have some controversial items this week sure to pack their respective city halls while South Miami has a dejavu on affordable housing and the county has another […]

Coral Gables cover-up on police ‘spy’ protects managers

Coral Gables cover-up on police ‘spy’ protects managers

Why would Coral Gables administrators go against their own police chief’s recommendation to terminate a major who spied on a resident during a commission meeting — taking a picture of the woman’s text messages and then arguing with her — and try to sweep the whole thing under the rug and let the officer retire […]

Don’t ask, don’t tell! Coral Gables policy is golden silence

Don’t ask, don’t tell! Coral Gables policy is golden silence

Shhhhh. The city of Coral Gables wants you to shut up. If you’re a pesky citizen who asks too many questions, like North Gables activist and onetime commission candidate Ariel Fernandez, you get a weak ‘cease and desist’ letter from a fancy outside attorney (more on that later). If you’re an employee of the City […]