Category: OPINION
EDITORIAL: Coral Gables needs smarter parking strategy
When nearly nine out of ten business owners say Coral Gables is an excellent or good place to operate, city leadership has earned a broad vote of confidence. The spring…
EDITORIAL: Commission chambers no place for politicking
It took 51 minutes for the June 11 Coral Gables commission capital workshop to get underway—almost an hour before city staff could present a single item. Instead, what played out…
EDITORIAL: Safer Coral Gables no accident
The latest crime statistics from the Coral Gables Police Department offer welcome news: reported crime in the city dropped 14.3 percent from 2023 to 2024, capping a two-year trend marked…
EDITORIAL: Coral Gables should ban gas-powered leaf blowers
Coral Gables is once again confronting an issue where science, public health, and civic identity converge: the noise and pollution caused by gas-powered leaf blowers. A proposal by Vice Mayor…
![By the early 1960s Coral Gables’ magnificent Douglas Entrance (originally La Puerta del Sol [The Gate of the Sun]) at SW 8th Street and SW 37th Avenue; the last, largest and most expensive of the city’s planned entrances) was dilapidated, underutilized and for many, an eyesore.](https://gables-gazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Douglas-Entrance.jpg)
UGUCCIONI: When ‘The Gate of the Sun’ was saved and the rise of The Villagers
By Ellen J. Uguccioni Ellen J. Uguccioni was the first director of the City of Coral Gables Historic Preservation Department. From where I sit, the 1960s don’t seem that long…
EDITORIAL: Commission minority’s responsibility is to question
In a five-member body like the Coral Gables City Commission, majority control carries the power to set the agenda, approve development and determine policy direction. A 3–2 vote is often…
EDITORIAL: Public investments in the arts make sense…and dollars
The city of Coral Gables styles itself as The City Beautiful—a place where Mediterranean Revival architecture, leafy boulevards, and a vibrant civic life come together in harmony. But beauty is…
EDITORIAL: Permitting process won’t get better on its own
In rescinding its pilot Expedited Permit Review Services Program last week, the Coral Gables City Commission halted a modest attempt to modernize a permitting process that many in the private…
EDITORIAL: There are better ways to govern than 12-hour meetings
A democracy cannot thrive when participation is measured by endurance. Coral Gables’ first regularly scheduled City Commission meeting after the April election stretched 12 hours, with only a brief 15-minute…
EDITORIAL: With garage in decay, all eyes on Commissioner Lara
There’s a striking irony unfolding in the heart of Coral Gables. Just steps from the city’s signature Miracle Mile, Parking Garage No. 1 stands as a cautionary symbol of municipal…
