Three Group 2 commission seat candidates vying to fill term-limited commissioner Ralph Cabrera’s set — Marlin Ebbert, Ross Hancock, Vicente (Vince) Lago — debated in the second of three candidate forums Thursday night at Coral Gables Congregational Church.It was the second of three forums by the Ponce Business Association; the mayor’s forum will be next Thursday.The three candidates agreed on almost every topic presented by moderator Eliott Rodriguez, a CBS4 news anchor and Gables resident: the need for pension reform; combating crime in the Gables; the need for a senior center; promoting green initiatives and improving neighborhood public schools.In addition, the three opposed a controversial plan by Miami-Dade County and the Buoniconti football family, Nick and son Marc, to build an $18 million, five-story dry-stack building for 360 powerboats in the Matheson Hammock marina.“I’m 100 percent opposed to any development at Matheson Hammock, said Lago, 35.“Matheson Hammock is like the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It’s a treasure we have to protect and not allow developers to go there,” said Ebbert, 65.“I agree wholeheartedly,” said Hancock, 58. “I can’t say it better than Vince or Marlin did.”The three were so agreeable with one another, Rodriguez quipped, “I’m glad we got you guys to disagree on something,” after a resident’s question on noisy leaf blowers spawned a slight disagreement.Hancock, a communications director for the American Welding Society, favors a citywide ban on leaf blowers. “If I was trying to do something that made this much noise and pollution that wasn’t blowing leaves, I wouldn’t be allowed to do it.”Ebbert, a longtime community volunteer, didn’t call for an outright ban, but agreed something needed to be done and that generators posed an even bigger noise problem. Lago, an executive in construction management and design for BDI Construction, said the city would be overstepping its bounds if it banned the leaf blowers. “I want to minimize government, not have more government. We need to minimize the times but not outlaw it.”Hancock, while agreeing with the others on the importance of curbing future pension costs and paying down the current $235 million unfunded pension liability, departed from the prevailing view among candidates that pension costs are the city’s chief problem. Instead, he said, the city’s No. 1 issue is improving its public schools.“We need to do something to support and make our public schools in Coral Gables on the same level as the city services we provide. People want to settle in Palmetto Bay and other communities that have done more to nurture their public schools,” he said.But the sharpest split came buried in Hancock’s closing comments, when he blasted the amount of money being raised by all of the candidates, especially in the Group 2 race. The 10 candidates have raised more than $525,000 as of March 8. Lago has raised the most among the candidates, with $124,553 in his coffers. Of the other Group 2 candidates, Ebbert has raised $22,845 and Hancock, $1,555. “On April 10th, we will wake up to find out whether this election has been bought by lobbyists and special interests,’’ Hancock said. “A half-million dollars so far has been pumped into this election. More in this group than any other.“This is unprecedented in our city. Traditionally, votes are not bought here. They are earned. I don’t blame anyone for getting piles of $500 checks from lobbyists and developers. But if we let them win this time, they will be back, and we might never have an election that developers can’t buy.”On Friday, Lago, whose donations come from a mix of real estate developers, architects, contractors, accountants, lawyers and unspecified donors, responded.“I thought it was unfortunate that Mr. Hancock waited to the last moment where I could not at least give some rebuttal to a statement that was rather unprofessional,’’ Lago said. “I’ve never been a developer and my firm BDI Construction does not build and sell apartments or shopping centers or whatever developers do. I’ve been involved in this race for a year and six months …The last thing I would ever do is compromise my values and integrity. If you look at the 2011 election you’ll notice the numbers by [Bill] Kerdyk Jr. were in the $140,000 range and those running for mayor — Jim Cason was close to $100,000 and Don Slesnick had more than $190,000. Brad Rosenblatt had $175,000 and Frank Quesada had about $105,000. “So when you mention elections being bought, yes, I have raised a lot of money but I have supporters who believe in me and my vision in Coral Gables.”• On crime:Ebbert urged residents to form watch groups and pay more attention to their neighbors. “I’ve had two crime watch meetings at my house in the last 10 years. I know my neighbors and I know whether they are out of town or if a package arrives at their house I will take it home with me and e-mail them. We don’t allow newspapers to accumulate at people’s houses. We have a wonderful police force but they can’t be everywhere.”Hancock stressed a need for more police officers. “Crime is up in the city. They are trying to minimize it by saying it’s just property crimes but I had a vehicle stolen from my house and it was used to assault an officer. A property crime turns into a violent crime pretty fast. We cut back on police that are the community officers that help police public schools here and we did that in the Sandy Hook era. There was a time when Coral Gables was a place where people were afraid to commit a crime. We don’t have that anymore. We need to get that back.”Lago also noted that he and his wife had been crime victims when air conditioners and a pool pump were stolen from their home on busy San Amaro two years ago. “If you look at crime as a whole, it has fallen by one percent in 2012. In the last five years not one police officer has been removed from the force. I’d put more of the ones we have on the street. We need to spend money making sure there is lighting on our streets. That is a huge deterrent.”• On revamping Miracle Mile:Ebbert blasted the parking garages across the street from the Le Jeune Publix and behind the mile’s Miracle Theatre. “There is $16 million set aside now to do Miracle Mile and get it right. The parking lots are a disgrace, poorly lit and dirty. I feel safe on the streets of Coral Gables but I don’t like going into the parking garages. I feel vulnerable if they are not lit well. Those two parking garages need to be taken down and rebuilt and go higher. Parking is vital for Miracle Mile to thrive.” Hancock said the city should treat Miracle Mile like an eco-system. “Say it’s a garden and you are trying to maximize how the garden looks. You have to have proper nutrients and that’s what we need to do to Miracle Mile to see that it has what it needs to thrive. Nature is telling us it’s now growing too out of proportion with the amount of parking we have available. We need to make Miracle Mile work with the parking that is available and not try something unrealistic.”Lago, who recently resigned from the Planning and Zoning Board to run for a commission seat, said parking on the mile was a focus of a 2006 study and a second study whose results will be released later this year. “We can’t make a decision about parking until it’s really analyzed.”He complained about the conditions of the two garages. “The existing garages need to be reconfigured, it’s like playing ping-pong, bouncing off cars. Big cars don’t fit there. When that report comes back we’ll find out if we need to do both or one garage.’’On squatters: The subject was spawned by recent media coverage about a family of three who moved into a five-bedroom home at 601 Sunset Dr. illegally. On Tuesday, the City Commission approved on first reading a new city law that would prohibit squatting, deem it a public nuisance and would establish sanctions, including fines of $500 a day, against the owners and squatters.The Sunset squatters occupied a home across the street from Ebbert’s house — she alerted the city about the problem. The squatters were maintaining the property and paying the electric bills.“FPL doesn’t care who pays as long as it gets paid,” she said. “I’m glad we have an ordinance.”Hancock quipped about the illegal tenants who kept the property up to code. “Coral Gables has the best squatters in the world. Nobody can touch our squatters.’’Hancock said rising insurance rates are the bigger issue. “The issue that concerns homeowners is windstorm insurance more than pensions,’’ he said. “Many feel pressured and are kicked out of State Farm. Citizens is raising its rates. If we don’t have homeowners insurance we can’t sell our houses. Can’t get insurance. That is the issue that is really on people’s minds more than the pensions. If that ain’t fixed, we aren’t going to be able to pay that pension thing.” Follow @HowardCohen on Twitter.
Coral Gables
Coral Gables