Coral Gables commission candidates discuss schools, parking

Candidates for Maria Anderson’s vacated Coral Gables City Commission Group 3 seat include two familiar faces at City Hall thanks to their involvement on many city boards, a long-time community activist, a track-and-field star who had his eye on the Beijing Summer Olympics and a former public defender.

Jackson Rip Holmes

Holmes, 61, believes the “soul of Coral Gables” is at stake in the current election, and that’s why, once again, the community activist and real estate broker finds himself entering a race for a commission seat, underfunded when compared to his competition. His most recent treasurer’s report, dated March 22, lists $850.

In 1988, Holmes was convicted of threatening Jeb Bush, who was under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service at the time his father, George H.W. Bush, was vice president. Holmes served three years in federal prison and was released in 1991. Today he says the issue was a family misunderstanding and that he is an ardent supporter of Bush..

Twenty years later, in 2008, Holmes was arrested in Coral Gables on a domestic battery charge related to his ex-wife but the case was dismissed.

All of the hurdles involved in the race are worth it, Holmes said, to save Miracle Mile from urbanization.

His push for a department store on the site of the city parking garages at 245 and 345 Andalusia Avenue, would, he says, ensure that the city’s tax base remains solvent and would keep the threat of skyscrapers off the Mile.

“This is important because, without this, the financial forces at work will hasten small mom-and-pop property owners to sell out to developers, creating skyscrapers, and a concrete canyon on Coral Gables’ main street, harming, if not eventually destroying, its essential residential charm and character as a place wealthy professionals can raise their children safe from urbanized crime,” Holmes said on his response form to the Miami Herald editorial board.

“What drives me is if you see a catastrophe happening, you simply can’t fail to get involved.”

Patricia Keon

Keon, 64, a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board, traces her civic and charitable involvement to growing up with four brothers. “In big families, the children take care of one another, you become a caregiver at a young age,” she said. “My undergraduate degree was in nursing which is also a public-service field and I had children, and your first activism in a community oftentimes are issues related to your children.”

For Keon, this started when her three sons, now grown, were little and playing in Salvadore Park near their home. The metal slides faced west and soaked up the sun’s rays and burned little bottoms. In addition, the ground beneath the merry-go-round had eroded, causing legs and feet to become stuck under the spinning playground ride.

Keon took her concerns to City Hall and, “much to my surprise,” her suggestions for improvements were not well received. “A group of mothers came together to say that playgrounds for children are as important as golf courses for adults. Children need recreational opportunities.”

The moms won. Emboldened, Keon would chair the Gables’ Recreational Advisory Board which led to improvements at the Coral Gables Youth Center at a time when commissioners balked at upgrades. “There was great opposition by one commission member to putting up lights on the field in winter when it’s dark so that children could finish out their baseball or soccer games. [Former Mayor] George Corrigan was the first to really buy in and we started that process of neighborhood meetings to gather community support to move that project forward.”

Keon’s race can be summarized in four points: Shoring up city finances, establishing performance measures and outcomes in all city departments, developing a cohesive policy regarding private and charter school development and quality of life initiatives regarding police resources and security.

P.J. Mitchell

Mitchell’s background in law led to this, his first entrance into local politics.

“When I graduated law school I went to work in the public sector with the Miami Dade Public Defender’s Office. It was a reward to give back. ... Being able to serve on the commission allows me to have my private practice and give back to the community, a natural progression,” he said.

“Hard to believe but I came to Florida when I was 24, I’m almost 40, and I have spent that whole time studying law or practicing it and I do think that’s unique to compare me with the other candidates. I can sit down and have a legal conversation with the city attorney or I can analyze statutes and ordinances.”

Mitchell eyes three priorities for the coming term: decreasing the unfunded liabilities that have soared from $8 million to $235 million since 2001 and are now being addressed by the commission and city manager; increasing police presence and lowering property taxes.

But city services could stand to be improved, he told The Miami Herald editorial board recently.

“The city services vary in quality and convenience depending on the service provided. Ask a resident about their garbage collection and they may be satisfied. However, if you ask them about the permitting process then you may hear stories of residents waiting months to get a permit.”

Tony Newell

To quote an Eagles classic, Newell, 30, might be the new kid in town — five years in the Gables — but he says he’s a fast learner.

Fast, period. Newell ran track and field at Miami Southridge High and continued training through college and into his career as vice president for operations at his family business, Hammer Construction Corp. A sprinter, Newell eyed the Olympic trials for the Beijing Games in 2008 and though he didn’t make the cut, the lessons learned from training as an athlete helped him through his first campaign for public office.

“The character it instills, putting your body through that, that’s why I think running a campaign is a cinch,” he said. “I jumped into the race in January, began raising money in February, it’s been a short, intense campaign and I say this will all sincerity, it’s been rewarding. I’m not one of those people who have been involved in every organization within Coral Gables. If I know 20 people in the Gables that’s saying a lot, but if I win, I win. If I lose, I win because I’m getting involved.”

Newell, whose namesake father Norman Newell graduated from Coral Gables High in 1955 (his parents went on their first date to see the 1964 film, The Thin Red Line, at the Miracle Theatre), says family is at the heart of his campaign.

“I’ve been wanting to do something for the city and my future. I’m 30, I’m going to get married and have kids, and we have the tendency to forget about the importance of local government. The sexy stuff is the federal and state stuff … but what impacts you on a daily basis is what happens in your city.”

Mary Young

Young has served on numerous city boards, including the Parking, Property Advisory and Disability boards. She was the first female chair of the Coral Gables Community Foundation, and in 2011 the Junior League of Miami recognized her as one of five Women Who Make a Difference. And she was the March of Dimes Humanitarian of the Year.

But campaigning for Anderson’s commission seat, she says, stands as one of the most enriching endeavors she has tackled.

“I have met thousands of people, including two centenarians, I would never had the chance to meet.”

Young, 55, recounts a recent evening spent knocking on doors. She took her puppy with her, told her husband she’d be back shortly, and 90-minutes later she hadn’t returned. She ran into a neighborhood friend who insisted on taking her by the hand to knock on doors.

“She introduced me to 15 other people. … I had a great time. This is why I’m running. I would never have had the opportunity to hold her hand and walk door to door to meet some of these people. To go with somebody who’s lived in your neighborhood for 30 years when you’ve only been there 20 years and feels that strongly about supporting you has been a great experience.

“I’ve been blessed to take on a lot of big roles but I can say I can not think of a better way to have spent the past year.”

Candidates on the issues

The candidates met with members of The Miami Herald’s editorial board and spoke with the paper to share their views on issues they felt were important in the city.

On schools: Residents have complained that the school of choice program that exists in Coral Gables is not equitable since children often can’t get into the elementary school in their neighborhood or must choose between an A-rated school or a C-rated one. Schools, like Coral Gables Senior High, also need restoration.

Holmes said schools shouldn’t be a campaign issue since the commission doesn’t make policy on public schools in the district, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools has jurisdiction. But, he says, “this is why, with the Somerset issue, a charter school, I was supportive of it, within limits. … We need good schools, we need to be a bully pulpit and be engaged constantly on this issue. People are being subjected to decisions about their children’s schooling they can’t control and they should have some control.”

Keon questions why Westlab is not in the mix among schools of choice and notes other discrepancies: “It’s not a choice when all choices are not equal. If you look at the 2012 ratings Coral Gables Elementary is A-rated. Sunset is an A school. And Carver is a C school. How is it a choice? Why don’t we have the resources to put into that school so they are all A schools? If we should have choices it should be all the schools in our neighborhoods and we should ensure that all the schools are of equal quality. …That is not within the purview of the city commission but it certainly is an important element in our community and we should be working with the school system on that.”

Mitchell: “You want to see the schools in our jurisdiction succeed. No one wants to see their school not meet the standards so it’s important for us to take this issue up with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and push for additional resources.”

Newell: “We aren’t the authority that controls [the schools.] All we can do is lean, and lean heavily.… We have the ability to deal with people from the county and the school board to use your weight and that’s where change will have to come from. We have to improve the public schools and make it a priority and try to gain solidarity among the entire commission. Make it the city’s issue and take it to the county.”

Young, a member of MAST’s advisory board at the Key Biscayne school, would use her background to facilitate discussions with the county school system, she said. “Families are concerned about being able to live here, especially young couples with more than one child, and more people are working outside the home. The ability to navigate to schools many times becomes an issue for them. The superintendent has made it a priority to improve the quality of our public schools. …If it’s something important to our community, I would be happy to facilitate that discussion.”

On the need for more parking garages or replacing the ones behind the Miracle Theatre and adjacent to Publix:

Holmes: “If the 345 Andalusia and 245 Andalusia parking garages are to be redeveloped, they must include a department store on the ground floor at 345, supplemented by 10 retail stores at 245. This will double the city’s tax base for the six-block surrounding area.”

Keon: “The conceptual streetscape plan for Miracle Mile includes rebuilding these two garages and improving the paseos to provide easy access to the Mile. I strongly support the plan for the Mile and believe the garages should be rebuilt before the parking on the Mile changes from angle to parallel parking. … The parking authority that issues permits has to strictly enforce the requirement that permit holders park on the upper floors of the garages so that the lower floors are available to shoppers.”

Mitchell awaits the results of a traffic study coming in May. “Based on the results I will look at this project and all other projects carefully to make an informed decision.”

Newell: “The city does not need more garages. The two garages mentioned are prime candidates for renovation. They are decrepit, inefficient, and represent underutilized space. Renovating these garages would also address the loss of parking spaces that would result in changing the parking configuration on Miracle Mile.”

Young: “More parking garages would invite more vehicles, increasing vehicular traffic and related congestion. I would prefer to explore more creative and intelligent ideas that would incorporate the existing garages and surfaces while encouraging more pedestrian traffic towards our restaurants, businesses and shops.”

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