Actor's Playhouse wheelchair ramp becomes political war in Coral Gables – Political Cortadito

This should have been obvious.

Coral Gables commissioners on Tuesday approved providing $42,000 to Actor's Playhouse, which leases the historic Miracle Theater from the city, for a new wheelchair ramp that will accommodate newer and older wheelchairs great for guests who need to get to the second floor.

It was a 3-2 vote split – the same as all 3-2 votes in City Beautiful these days – and it came after more than an hour of heated debate, which Should have been incredibly embarrassing in front of the actor's executive production director. Barbara Steinwho kept smiling throughout because, GoodIt’s a class act.

Commissioner Kirk Menendezwho sponsored the article, apologized to him on behalf of the commission when Mayor Lago essentially inferred that Stein was trying to scam the city.

After being informed by city staff that funds were available (in fact, the city has half a million in unused ADA funds), Lago and Rhonda Anderson voted against the ramp because, in their view, it was not fiscally responsible. The terms of the lease clearly make Actor's Playhouse responsible for these improvements and they don't want other entities with city leases to do the same thing, they said.

All right. So what? If other emblematic and long standing the organization with a municipal lease wants $41,900 for a wheelchair ramp, What is the problem ? So be it. Are there dozens of leases? Ladra asked but it was a formal public records request, which takes time. But it can't be a tonne. This is a non-existent problem.

Yet Anderson wanted to make one ready and challenged his colleagues to raise money to reimburse the city. Then, later, in the same meeting, she pushed to hire a designer to design bike lanes – not dedicated ways, mind you, but grooves on the Street – in an area where residents might not even want it (more on that later). This must cost over $40,000 for something the city may never do.

“I believe the Actor's Playhouse is a very important part of our city, but the devil is in the details. I cannot accept a lease that has this in writing at the moment and we have similar conditions with other tenants,” the deputy mayor said. “We can’t treat them any differently and just refund things at the last minute.”

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The wheelchair ramp might never have been a problem if the candidate Richard Lara, an attorney running against Menendez, did not make it a topic during public comments at the last meeting in May. He receives bad advice. Because this is not the subject to campaign on.

On Tuesday, Mayor Lago – whose allies recruited Lara – doubled down on this bad sword.

“I have my doubts. I just have a hard time believing this ramp costs this much,” Lago said, essentially calling Stein a liar to his face. “It's not outside of ADA compliance. You are in compliance at this time.

Just because it’s compliant doesn’t mean it works for everyone.

Stein said older customers with walkers have difficulty navigating the current elevator and some young people with special needs can't use it at all. “There are people who haven't been here in a long time because they're not comfortable,” Stein said, adding that Actor's has built, rebuilt and improved ADA equipment and facilities at the over the past 28 years since moving to Miracle Mile.

“We filled a need in the city when downtown was dying by creating foot traffic.”

The urgency is due to an unusual time window in the year-round operation of the organization. The city is closing the historic theater for four months to repair the air conditioning system, which could cost the actor $150,000 in guaranteed income, Stein said. “This makes meeting deadlines very critical, as we will not close our doors to build this ramp at any other time. »

She defended the price, saying the ramps alone were on the market for $12,000. “It’s not just a little piece of plywood,” Stein said, referring to Anderson’s sarcastic comment about having a “gold mine” in his garage.

There's demolition, construction, drywall and painting. “We really investigated and I can tell you it was very difficult to get a lot of bids because a lot of people didn't want to get involved in bidding because they work with the city” , Stein said. But they still got two more – one about the same and one higher.

“We're very happy to be able to show a price-matched comparison,” Stein added, not explicitly saying “so you know we're not ripping you off,” but kind of saying it. Wink wink.

The actor also considered a larger elevator, but it would cost the same, and a ramp “provides more comfort for people, more independence and more opportunities to give people more dignity when entering the theater, without having to take a squeaky elevator.” .”

Anyone who is not psychotic might already be bothered by this and back away. Not Lago.

“I am convinced… that this sets a dangerous precedent,” the mayor added. “As a commercial real estate owner, when you have a contract with a tenant, you have to stick to it. »

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Does he want to talk about the empty commercial space on Ponce De Leon Boulevard that he leased to the developer Rishi Kapoor for one year? We'll talk about this later.

“If you start creating, you know, opportunities for your tenants to shirk certain responsibilities, that just undermines that contract,” Lago said.

Boom. That set Menendez off.

“I find it offensive that anyone, especially with Barbara Stein here, would use the phrase 'avoiding responsibility.' Because what Barbara Stein and her team are doing is not avoiding all responsibility. We are! For politics rather than people,” Menendez said emphatically.

“There are children, there are seniors who need to get there and feel human! And we let politics take over! And I'm not going to allow it!

He apologized to Stein for having to “go through the wringer for something that is common sense, that is so logical and so good for the people who need it.”

Earlier, Menendez said he spoke to the city attorney and was told that regardless of the contract, the commission had the legal authority to spend the funds for valid municipal purposes. “I think helping provide an ADA-compliant ramp and guardrails is a valid municipal goal,” he said.

“Our role is to take it case by case, item by item and sometimes make easy decisions and sometimes make harder decisions,” Menendez said. “That’s why we’re here, to proceed on a case-by-case basis. And I honestly believe that is an honest municipal goal.

It was clear that Anderson was carrying out the mayor's orders. Again. After making the motion to convert the $41,900 into a loan, Menendez tried to explain the time window and Lago interrupted him. What a minute, said the mayor. “We had a motion. Do we have a second?

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When no one rang, he seconded the motion, with bursts of laughter because he knew it would not pass. This is the same guy who accuses everyone of political theater.

Before being able to vote, a longtime activist Maria Cruz — a former Lago ally who led the recall effort against him — brought up Burger Bob's, one of the city's few other leases, and the escalating costs the administration has presented for renovating that location, once also a community icon.

“We started with half a million dollars and now, because we wanted to make it a world-class place, it’s over a million dollars,” Cruz said. “It's a need, and we can't keep putting it off,” she added, calling the figure “laughable, when we're spending on things that really aren't necessary and could have been done for much less.

Lago said, to “correct” “some comments that have been made,” that the Burger Bob location is a “city-controlled asset” with no tenants (more on that later). “No one is making money off this property,” the mayor said. He also said the increase was made as part of the budget process and not as an emergency item, like the Actor's allocation request.

Fernandez said the mayor's position was a double standard after he voted two years ago to waive the hurricane insurance requirement for the Biltmore Hotel, which put the city at risk. He said the city could be responsible for ADA issues at the theater because it is city property.

“We're investing money in a city asset, to improve it, whether it's the Actor's Playhouse that runs it or the Miami Philharmonic Band. This is a long-term investment for our asset in our city,” Fernandez said.

Lago took advantage of the discussion to try to belittle the commissioner Melissa Castro. “Have you read the contract between the city and Actor’s Playhouse?” Have you read the ADA report produced by the city in July 2019? Did you know the Miracle Theater is in the report? “

“Where do these questions come from,” Castro asked.

“I'm asking because I think it's important. These are things that a lot of businesses and residents don’t know,” Lago said, trying to secure the best actor nomination. And no, he didn't enlighten anyone.

It was all very scary and it seemed like Lago and Anderson were eat what the chicken bites.

But hey, at least the mayor didn't threaten to fight anyone.

Kirk Menendez, Rhonda Anderson, Vince Lago