Gables voters keep two-year mayoral terms, back park protections
Plus a Lowe Art Museum lecture, a Parkinson's benefit concert and this year's photo contest winners.
Each of the four charter questions drew at least 19,730 valid votes, despite sitting at the end of a long general-election ballot.
Coral Gables voters split Mayor Vince Lago's four charter amendments on Nov. 3, passing two. Results are unofficial until the Miami-Dade County canvassing board certifies them.
Lago won reelection, but four-year mayoral terms failed, 10,792 votes to 9,463.
Park protection passed with 82.4 percent. Selling city parkland, or leasing it for 10 years or longer, requires 60 percent approval in a citywide special election. A one-year continuous residency rule for candidates passed with 92 percent.
The $25,000 charter threshold for formal public-works bidding stays after voters rejected raising it to $300,000.
Statewide, Amendment 3's homestead expansion passed. Pre-vote city projections estimated it could cut city property-tax revenue by about $5.7 million in fiscal 2028 and $11.4 million a year from fiscal 2029.
Low bidder sues the city over the Art Cinema contract vote
Hycon Investments, the contractor city procurement staff recommended for the Art Cinema expansion, sued Coral Gables and West Construction on Oct. 30 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
Three days earlier, commissioners voted 5-0 to pursue West if it lowered its price below Hycon's $1,239,900 bid. West had bid $1,245,496.63. Lago praised West's work on Fire Station 4. Procurement chief Celeste Walker-Harmon backed the staff pick, saying, "We don't normally negotiate."
Hycon alleges the vote broke a bid rule barring post-opening price cuts from deciding the lowest bidder. It asks the court to block a revised West price and award it the contract. The allegations have not been ruled on.
The project would add a 90-seat second auditorium at 240 Aragon Ave. Its estimated budget is $1,425,885 including contingency, with the city's share capped at $450,000 and the cinema covering $975,885.
City buys the medical office building on City Hall's block
Coral Gables has bought the 53,029-square-foot medical office building at 475-495 Biltmore Way for a purchase price of $24 million. The seller, ShareMD, owned the building, which shares a downtown block with City Hall and the Planning and Zoning Department. The city now controls the entire block.
The city kept Medicus Asset Management, ShareMD's property management affiliate, to run the building for an initial one-year term. ShareMD also announced it is rebranding as Parallel Medical Properties.
Capture Coral Gables names its 2026 photo winners
The Coral Gables Museum's Capture Coral Gables contest tied this year's entries to the nation's 250th anniversary. A jury picked 25 finalists across five categories on the city's people, architecture, public spaces, environment and future. Jurors included Coral Gables Magazine editor-in-chief JP Faber, photographer David Gary Lloyd and framer Anthony Lobos.
Ruben Hernandez won the America 250 Grand Prize for "Unfolding Liberties on the Steps of Civic Life," shot on the steps of the former First Church of Christ, Scientist, now Sanctuary of the Arts. The image also won the Freedom, Expression & Civic Life category.
Jenyn Valdes won two categories, and Miren Idoia de Quintana won People & Community. Marco Inzerillo took Coral Gables in the World plus the museum's acquisition award. Michel Boussuge earned the Juror's Pick.
A Parkinson's benefit concert reaches its 10th year
- When
- Friday, Nov. 6 · 7:30 p.m.
- Where
- St. Thomas Episcopal Parish
- Address
- 5692 N. Kendall Drive
- Price
- $30 general admission, $10 students
Evening of Songs & Memories, a concert by local musicians benefiting the Parkinson's Foundation, celebrates its 10th anniversary on Friday. Carolina Kimball organizes it, and proceeds support programs for people living with Parkinson's and their care partners.
St. Thomas Episcopal Parish sits inside Coral Gables, though it uses a Miami-area mailing address. Tickets are advertised at $30 for general admission and $10 for students, and donations are welcome.
Performers and the program have not been announced. Published RSVP deadlines have passed, and it is unclear whether tickets remain or will be sold at the door. Call 305-537-9960 to check availability.
Dr. Sarah McPhee puts the Lowe's Old Masters in context
- When
- Thursday, Nov. 5 · 6:30-8:30 p.m.
- Where
- Lowe Art Museum
- Address
- 1301 Stanford Dr.
- Price
- $15
Dr. Sarah McPhee gives the Lowe Art Museum's Old Masters in Context lecture, built around selected works from the museum's permanent collection. The program looks at the historical, cultural and artistic settings of those pieces and why they matter.
Tickets are $15 each.