‘Tis the Season

In anybody’s book, 2020 has not been a great year. Hopefully it will go down in history as the Year of COVID. I say hopefully, because that would mean we got the pandemic under control in 2021.

The ripple effect of that virus has been astonishing, bringing our economy crashing to the ground. Mostly it demolished employment in the retail and hospitality industries, but those blows are working their way through other sectors, with impacts in commercial real estate, insurance, banking and so forth.

Not all businesses have been ruined. Some, oddly enough, have flourished in the “cosmic dodgeball” of the pandemic, as my wife put it. Most online enterprises have done well, for example, as we gravitate toward anything that avoids direct human contact. But for the most part, we are hurting as a people, with some worse off than others.

In this light, the entire concept of the holidays, those happy celebrations where we find that it is indeed better to give than receive, take on a new cast. Now more than ever we need to help each other, and to try and put a brighter spin on all our challenges. Perhaps we can’t hug as much. But it’s in times like these that we come to realize how important we are to each other, and how easily we take for granted all the simple pleasures that came with just hanging out with friends and family.

There is something almost Dr. Suesslike in this, where a mean old Grinch has tried to steal our happiness by heisting all our worldly gifts, only to find that our happiness comes from somewhere beyond the material things we thought were so important.

In this issue we honor some of the many citizens of Coral Gables who are philanthropists – people whose fortunes have given them the opportunity to share with those less fortunate. Much of their work lies in the areas of education, healthcare and the arts, where the support they supply improves our situation not only today, but also in the future.

But you don’t have to be rich to give. So much of what is needed requires just a helping hand – time spent caring for the less fortunate, whether they are young or old. Keep that in mind this holiday season, and understand that even the humblest among us have gifts to share.

Cover: The Holiday Issue

CEO & PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P.Faber

EVP / PUBLISHER

Gail Scott

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Amy Donner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Toni Kirkland

VP SALES

Sherry Adams

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lizzie Wilcox

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Grace Carricarte

SENIOR WRITER

Mike Clary

WRITERS

James Broida

Andrew Gayle

Doreen Hemlock

Mallory Evans Jacobson

Kylie Wang

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Michael Campina

Jonathan Dann

Emily Fakhoury

GRAPHIC INTERNS

Avani Choudhary

Alexandra Hopfenberg

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

J.P.FABER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Coral Gables Magazine is published monthly by City Regional Media, 2051 SE Third St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. Telephone: (786) 206.8254. Copyright 2020 by City Regional Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph or illustration without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Send address changes to City Regional Media, 2051 SE Third St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. General mailbox email and letters to editor@ coralgablesmagazine.com. BPA International Membership applied for March 2019.

Each month we print letters that we receive from our readers. We encourage any and all commentary, included criticism as well as compliments, and of course any commentary about our community. If you are interested in writing to us with your opinions, thoughts or suggestions, please send them to letters@thecoralgablesmagazine.com

The David William Saga

What an informative article is Sally Baumgarten’s [November issue] about the history of The David William. Although I live near it and was there many times – especially when it housed Chez Vendome – I never knew the story of its builder’s persistence and ability to cope. Congratulations!

Frank Cooper

Dog Park Debacle

Bill Ogden of the Hammock Lakes HOA is being completely disingenuous in his comments about the closure of the gate of School House Road that gives access to West Matheson Hammock Park [November issue, The Great Dog Park Debate]. He says that the launching of this park revamping project and the closure of the gate is nothing to do with them, it’s the County’s decision. He doesn’t mention his active lobbying of Commissioner Suarez nor that of Arnaud Karsenti, the other major lobbyist in the HOA, who pressured Mayor Gimenez. Their emails and lawyers’ letters are now in the public domain.

As for the environmental sensitivity of this park, the grassy areas where people walk their dogs are no longer pristine wetlands, they are just grass. The land was ploughed and cultivated for decades, the soil is full of tin cans and waste from Hurricane Andrew, it is not remotely environmentally sensitive. However, thanks to their lobbying they are trying to force all park users to come into the park via the hugely endangered rockland hammock, so their pressure is causing environmental damage.

Sadly, the Parks Department has fallen prey to their lobbying and are prepared to commit environmental vandalism with their unwanted construction project on the beautiful nature trail. The public rejected the project back in 2015 as the park goers love the unspoiled beauty of the place, but Director Maria Nardi of the Parks Department is pushing her $5 million project through whatever we think. No need for reviews, no need for environmental permits, just do it quickly. Shame on you Nardi.

Niels Pace

Dog Park Blockers

Funny that the gated community wasn’t gated just a few years back, and now they considered the public roads theirs, and don’t want the free transit that the public is entitled to. That is the main and only reason for this back and forth among the HOA and the park users. Of course, the residents are well known developers and have good relations with City officials, so the users have to get their cars and shoes dirty and walk half a mile to get to the park that the majority of those residents have never even set foot in it. The inconvenience of a few cars going in or out of the North gate is too much for them. So, they pulled some strings and Parks Director Ms. Nardi obliged, and is now spending $5 million on a boardwalk that nobody asked for.

Juan Garcia

Wildlife Rescue

We are so grateful and pleased with the great article “It’s a Hoot’” [November] highlighting the great work that the Seabird Station does to rescue and rehabilitate sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife in Coral Gables.The city’s verdant tree canopy provides much-needed habitat to SFL native and migrating birds, including the sick eastern screech owl that was rehabilitated at Pelican Harbor Seabird Sation (PHSS), mentioned in the great article. We want to inform the Coral Gables community that we also treat native wildlife, including turtles, squirrels, and opossums, giving these sick, injured, and orphaned animals a second chance thanks to generous community members and foundations support. We invite you to follow us on social media (FB, Instagram and YouTube) and would be happy to give a zoom presentation on what PHSS does to rehabilitate SFL native wildlife to your organizations, business, or schools. If you ever find an injured wild animal, please don’t hesitate to call us at (305) 751-9840.

Kiki Mutis, Operations and Volunteer Manager. Pelican Harbor Seabird Station

Helping Our Military Vets

My name is Jenna Weber and I am a senior at Riviera Preparatory School. Last year, I founded a charity called Domino Effect for Vets, dedicated to serving veterans in poverty and inspired by the trials my family has faced due to my uncle’s PTSD. It consists of backpack drives with daily necessities that I bring to the Miami Veteran’s Administration for distribution. The name of my organi- zation summarizes the cause which I try to spread awareness about: Firstly, the way in which the effects of war extend beyond veterans into their families and communities and, secondly, the contagious effect of proactive engagement. Founding my charity took considerable perseverance, and certainly built character. I truly think that is a story with a valuable lesson. Additionally, I am always looking to involve the community in my project. I would appreciate the opportunity to have your widely-distributed and well-read publication spread awareness about this issue and provide an outlet to help with it.

Jenna Weber, Senior Class President Riviera Preparatory School jennaweber@rivieraschools.com

Editor’s Note: We greatly appreciate your efforts and your community commitment. This is just what our city needs, and is an example to anyone who believes that empathy, energy and effort can go a long way to helping those in need – including the noble warriors who serve to protect us. For that reason, we have included your email, should anyone among our readers wish to help out.

Covid Budget

How do you reconcile the claim of a “balanced budget” with the figures presented in the story? [November issue] First of all, the story presents shortfall figures ($8.2m this year and $12.6m next). Second, the amounts of Total Expenditures greatly exceed Total Revenues in both 2019-2020 and 20202021 periods. Third, the difference in these Revenue and Expenditure totals are not the reported “shortfall” amounts. Fourth, the two Revenue Totals do not correspond to the sum of their respective components. Nothing in this story makes arithmetic sense.

Guillermo Anllo

Editor’s Note: Thanks for your close attention to the numbers. Yes, they don’t add up. The expenditures for 2019-2020 greatly exceeded revenues, but that is because they included capital projects, such as the new public safety building, which are not paid from those annual revenues but from special set-asides. The expected standard expenditures for 2020-2021 also exceed revenues, which is why the city has frozen certain line items on the expense side. Apologies for not making this clearer. ■