Wednesday, April 6, 2005
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CONTENTS:Vote on Tuesday, April 12
Museum Parking Garage is Now Open to the Public
City Launches e-News on TV
Taiwanese Official Visits Coral Gables
Coral Gables PR Firm Receives National Award
Celebrate National Telecommunications Week
Meeting to Discuss the Future of Coral Gables
Don't Miss the Merrick Festival April 15-17
Event Addresses Cultural Tourism
Museum to Host Lecture on Paul Cézanne
Remembering Our Fallen Officers: Part 3 of 8
City Honors March Employee of the Month
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Vote on Tuesday, April 12 >>> The Coral Gables General Biennial and Special Municipal Referendum Election will take place on Tuesday, April 12, with polls open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Induction Ceremony follows at Noon on Friday, April 15, at the Commission Chambers at City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way. The Oath of Office will be administered by Judge John Schlesinger of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. The polling locations for Election Day are:
Precinct 562 - Coral Gables Woman's Club - 1001 E. Ponce de Leon Blvd.
Precinct 601 - Venetian Pool - 2701 De Soto Blvd.
Precinct 602 - First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables - 536 Coral Way
Precinct 604 - American Legion Post #98 - 303 Alhambra Circle
Precincts 605, 610 - Coral Gables Youth Center - 405 University Dr.
Precincts 607, 637 - Coral Gables Congregational Church - 3010 De Soto Blvd.
Precinct 608 - Coral Gables Country Club - 997 North Greenway Drive
Precincts 611, 638 - St. Mark's Lutheran Church - 3930 LeJeune Rd.
Precincts 612, 639 - St. Augustine Catholic Church - 1400 Miller Rd.
Precinct 613 - Ponce De Leon Middle School - 5801 Augusto St.
Precinct 614 - Coral Gables Fire Station #2 - 525 S. Dixie Hwy.
Precincts 615, 635 - Cocoplum Woman's Club - 1375 Sunset Dr.
Precinct 617 - Riviera Presbyterian Church - 5275 Sunset Dr.
Precincts 618, 645, 850 - Gulliver Academy - 12595 SW 57 Ave.
Precinct 626 - Christ The King Lutheran Church - 11295 SW 57 Ave.
Precinct 633 - Coral Gables Woman's Club - 1001 E. Ponce de Leon Blvd.
Precinct 634 - Esther M. Armbrister Park - 236 Grand Ave.
Precinct 636 - Coral Gables Branch Library - 3443 Segovia St.
Precinct 640 - University of Miami Convocation Center - 1245 Walsh Ave.
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Museum Parking Garage is Now Open to the Public >>> Drivers looking for parking space in downtown Coral Gables can now park at the newly constructed Museum Parking Garage located at the 200 block of Aragon Avenue. The Mediterranean style eight-story building is located across popular Coral Gables merchants such as Books & Books, Lucie St. Claire Salon, New Concept Flowers, Paper & Concept, Paper Emporium, Rodolfo Hair Gallery, and Fifteenth Street Books. The City is offering free parking for the next 30 days in the first five floors of the garage which are open to the public. Additional construction still continues on the remaining top parking floors and the retail space. For more information, call 305-460-5205.
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City Launches e-News on TV >>> The City of Coral Gables has expanded its effort to inform the public about local government by launching e-News on TV, a bi-weekly television news program to air on Coral Gables TVT (CGTVT). e-News on TV, which debuted March 23, features stories from the City's popular electronic newsletter, e-News, which is distributed every other week to thousands of e-mail subscribers. The show is produced in-house by CGTVT staff, and a new edition will run every two weeks, timed to coincide with the distribution of the electronic version of e-News. Coral Gables TVT can be seen through local cable subscription in the area, and on the Internet at www.coralgables.com (follow the link to Cable TV). For information, call 305-460-5521.
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Taiwanese Official Visits Coral Gables >>> Taiwanese Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien visited Coral Gables on March 22, her last stop before returning home from a commercial and diplomatic outreach mission to Guatemala and El Salvador. During her visit, Vice President Lu and her Taiwanese delegation were officially welcomed by Mayor Don Slesnick and Commissioner Wayne "Chip" Withers. Also present were: David L. Brown, City Manager; Raul Suarez, Chair of the International Affairs Coordinating Council; Richard DeWitt, Chair of the Economic Development Board and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz. Mayor Slesnick presented Vice President Lu with a key to the City, and she, in turn, presented the City with an elegant vase. The visit was quite an honor for The City Beautiful. Vice President Lu is the first woman to be elected to high office in the Republic of China and is a well-known women's rights activist and author. She is also an attorney with master's degrees in law from both the University of Illinois and Harvard University. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office for the Southeastern United States has called Coral Gables its home for the last 20 years.
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Coral Gables PR Firm Receives National Award >>> rbb Public Relations has been named "Boutique PR Agency of the Year" by PRWeek, the industry's largest trade publication. The Coral Gables firm was chosen from more than 800 agencies around the country for its financial and client growth, retention of employees and clients, and for overall creativity and innovation. CEO Christine Barney is a member of the City's Communications Committee. rbb was founded in 1975 and has offices in Coral Gables and New York. Recently, the firm was also named "#1 PR Agency in the Country to Work For," and "South Florida PR Firm of the Year."
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Celebrate National Telecommunications Week >>> The Coral Gables Police and Fire Departments will honor their 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers during National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, April 10-16. About 40 operators who work in the City's Communication Center receive and dispatch an average of 160 calls per day for both police and fire-rescue service, around the clock, year-round. These individuals help save countless lives and remain poised under pressure. The City will conduct a ceremony to announce the Communications Operator of the Year at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 14, at the basement of the Police Department, 2801 Salzedo St. For information, call 305-460-5402.
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Meeting to Discuss the Future of Coral Gables >>> State law requires that cities review their Comprehensive Land Use Plan every seven years. The Plan is a big-picture look at all aspects of city planning, including traffic circulation, housing, public facilities, conservation, and recreation and open space. Part of that review process involves holding a meeting with City Officials, residents and property owners, and other interested parties to discuss issues that should be included in the Evaluation and Appraisal Report that is prepared after the process. The City Beautiful strongly encourages everyone to attend this meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, at the Commission Chambers at City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way. For information, call 305-460-5211, or send an e-mail message to ear@coralgables.com.
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Don't Miss the Merrick Festival April 15-17 >>> Come to downtown Coral Gables on April 15-17 for three days of music, art and entertainment. The Merrick Festival, now in its 10th season, brings chefs and performers from Coral Gables' Sister Cities to work with local chefs and artists, where together they create fine dishes and first-class entertainment. Among the visiting countries this year: Cartagena, Colombia, and Aix-en-Provence, France. Here are a few of the events planned for the Festival: From 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, come "Walk With Me" with the Easter Seals to raise money for people with disabilities. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, "Art in the Tropics" presents fine paintings, sculpture, and jewelry under the shade of the stately oaks at Merrick Park, across from City Hall. At the same time, local and visiting chefs will be preparing samples of their culinary talent, and performers will present children's theater, classical and baroque music, good ole' Rock and Roll, and much more. For more information, visit www.merrickfestival.org or call 305-491-4180. Biltmore Way will be closed between LeJeune Road and Hernando Street from 7 p.m. Friday, April 15 to 9 p.m. Sunday, April 17, in connection with the event.
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Event Addresses Cultural Tourism >>> Come to the historic Biltmore Hotel on Tuesday, April 12, for breakfast and a panel discussion about innovative partnership opportunities in cultural tourism. The event, titled "Perfect Harmony in Two Parts: Arts and Tourism," is hosted by the Arts & Business Council with support from the City of Coral Gables and the MetLife Foundation. It takes place from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave. Among the panelists: George Neary with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Fran Sevcik with the Biltmore Hotel, Susan Robison with Norwegian Cruise Line and Robert Goodman with Art Basel. Tickets are $10 for members of Coral Gables companies and arts groups, and $15 for everyone else. Advance registration is required. For more information, call 305-865-5583.
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Museum to Host Lecture on Paul Cézanne >>> Come to the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum on Sunday, April 17, for a lecture on painter Paul Cézanne. Cézanne was a French Post-Impressionist painter who had great influence on 20th Century artists Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso and is often called the father of modern art. The lecture, titled "100 Years of Paul Cézanne," is by Dr. Michel Fraisset, Atelier, of the Cézanne Museum in Aix-en-Provence, France. The lecture starts 3 p.m. at the Lowe Art Museum, 1301 Stanford Dr., and is part of the Coral Gables Sister Cities program and the Merrick Festival activities. RSVP no later than April 15 by calling 305-284-5587.
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Remembering Our Fallen Officers: Part 3 of 8 >>> In this edition of e-News, Billy Howard Stephens, a Coral Gables Police Officer who lost his life while protecting the public, is remembered. Officer Stephens was 26 and a four-year veteran of the Gables Police Department in 1957 when he died as a result of a head-on collision in a traffic accident. Officer Stephens and his partner were on motorcycles escorting a motorcade for the Coral Gables High School football team on its way to a game that night, November 22. The motorcycle officers were covering the intersection at South Waterway Drive and Southwest 77 Avenue when a man in a Chevrolet station wagon made an illegal turn, hitting Officer Stephens head on. Officer Stephens was taken to Doctor's Hospital for emergency surgery, but he died the following morning. Stephens was one of two children to Joseph Mothol and Bernice McCormick Stephens. He left behind a wife, Roberta "Bobbie" Stephens, and a three-month-old daughter, Sandra Jane.
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City Honors March Employee of the Month >>> The City would like to congratulate Mirtha Francomacaro of the Public Works Department for being named Employee of the Month for March. Mirtha joined the City in 1994 as an Executive Secretary in the City Manager's Office. Five years later, she was promoted to Executive Assistant to the City Manager. In 2002, Mirtha became the Public Works Department's Project Administrator. In this role, Mirtha tracks the status of projects and coordinates between Department supervisors and the engineers and architects involved in Public Works projects. Among her other duties, she supports the Traffic Advisory Board and helps the Public Works Director respond to inquiries from residents and other departments. Mirtha was named Employee of the Month because she is dependable, a self-starter, and always produces exceptional work. She is also helpful and courteous with residents and co-workers who come to her for help. Way to go, Mirtha!
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